US food giant ConAgra Foods will be cutting jobs in Asia and Europe. Job cuts in Asia are expected to come in China, South Korea and Singapore, and in Europe the job cuts will come in the UK. The cutbacks are expected to begin next month and continue into the summer.

ConAgra said the performance of its trading and merchandising segment had been stronger than expected but that input costs had weighed on its consumer food division. A ConAgra spokesperson stated: "Sales for our consumer businesses weren't what we wanted them to be in those markets. We're also streamlining those products overall."

From June to November last year, profits from its trading in agricultural and energy commodities more than tripled from US$54.5 million to US$240.1 million. Over the same period, profits from ConAgra's consumer foods business tumbled almost 11% to US$410.4 million.