Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. plans to eliminate about 9 percent of its workforce over the next four years to integrate Nycomed, the Swiss company it's counting on to reverse declining profits.

Takeda will cut 2,800 jobs, mainly in Europe and the U.S., to help yield net savings of about ¥130 billion by the year ending March 31, 2016, the Osaka-based company said Wednesday. Asia's biggest drug maker said costs associated with the plan will trim ¥35 billion from net income in the current financial year, which the company forecast in November will plunge 31 percent to an 11-year low.

European units may be merged or sold as part of the integration of Nycomed International Management GmbH, which Takeda bought for €9.6 billion (about ¥950 billion) in September. The Zurich-based company may help buffer Takeda from a slump in sales of Actos, its bestselling diabetes drug that from next August will face competition from generic copies.

"I'm not fully convinced by the restructuring plan," said Fumiyoshi Sakai at Credit Suisse Group AG in Tokyo. "I'm not sure that it's enough," he said in an interview. Takeda shares have a "neutral" rating and are expected to fall to ¥3,000 over the next 12 months, Sakai said.

The earnings outlook for the next fiscal year is uncertain due to a sharp drop in Actos sales in Japan and the threat of copycat medicines, Sakai and Credit Suisse colleague Toshiyuki Tateno said in a report Wednesday.

"The rationalization measures are likely to produce quick results, but the impact on net profit is uncertain," they said. The announcement may "spark a brief rally, but it remains to be seen whether the announced measures alone will be enough to turn around performance" from April 2013.

Takeda had 30,804 employees as of Sept. 30, following the acquisition of Nycomed. Purchasing the Swiss pharmaceutical company gave it customers in 42 more countries and reduced its reliance on sales in Japan and the U.S., where first-half revenue declined 10 percent because of the strong yen.

"While our combined operations in more than 70 countries are more complementary than overlapping, there are a number of areas where we will need to make changes to ensure efficient and flexible operations," Takeda President Yasuchika Hasegawa said in a statement Wednesday.

More guidance on the financial impact of the restructuring plan will be given when Takeda reports its third-quarter earnings Feb. 1, the company said. Around 2,100 jobs mainly in Europe and another 700 in the U.S. will be eliminated under the plan across research, commercial, operations and administrative functions, Takeda said.

About 1,200 Takeda and Nycomed workers will be axed in Germany, most of whom are located in Konstanz near the border with Switzerland, according to a joint statement by the German IG BCE chemicals and energy trade union and a local workers' council. Most of the employees in Konstanz are in research and development, the statement said.