Renesas Electronics Corp., the ailing Japanese chipmaker, plans to cut more than 3,000 additional jobs as it prepares to raise at least 150 billion yen ($1.7 billion) from a government-backed fund and customers.

Renesas began talks with labor unions Thursday and plans to eliminate the positions through buyouts by Sept. 30, the Kawasaki-based company said in a statement. No upper limit for buyout applications has been set, and the impact on earnings hasn’t been determined, Renesas said.

The reduction adds to about 7,500 positions cut through a buyout program in October, taking the planned job losses to about 25 percent of Renesas’s workforce. The supplier to Apple Inc. and Nintendo Co. agreed to sell new shares to a group led by Innovation Network Corp. of Japan last month to raise funds as Japan’s chipmakers struggle amid falling demand, a strong yen and competition from Samsung Electronics Co.

“The downside risk for Renesas shares may be limited for now with this restructuring,” said Takashi Oba, a senior strategist at Okasan Securities Co. “Renesas must start to show evidence of a recovery, such as posting an operating profit, and concentrate on its strengths.”

Renesas, which employed 41,900 people as of September, fell 1 percent to 288 yen at 9:55 a.m. in Tokyo trading. The stock was headed for the lowest close since Dec. 3. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.5 percent. 

(Bloomberg)