It said that profits before exceptional items would fall 30% on flat sales.

The firm aims to restructure its business to focus more on digital products and services. It has made a 77m (euro125m) provision to cover redundancy and write-off of assets.

The firms three factories, two in Holland and one in Germany, will not be affected by the job cuts, although other areas of the business, including the UK operation, will be hit.

A spokesman said there would be "no surprises in the sectors it was getting out of. Print production, high-volume office printing, display graphics (including the recently acquired Gretag Imaging professional division), outsourced facilities and service remain key.

It has also signed deals with two firms to outsource its European lease activities, which are worth 372m.

It will reveal more details of the restructuring and provisional results for 2001 in January.