TransAlta cutting work force in Canadian coal unit in effort to reduce costs

TransAlta Corp. says it's cutting its work force in its Canadian coal generating unit by 20 per cent as it works toward trimming annual costs by about $12-million.

The Calgary-based power producer started the cost-saving initiative in January and it says a "large part" of the savings are already being captured.

It incurred about $7-million in restructuring costs during the first three months of 2015.

TransAlta's first-quarter profit fell nearly 45 per cent to $26-million from $47-million a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter was $593-million, down 18 per cent from $775-million during the same period in 2014.