December 24, 2002 / The Shipping Times (LISBON) Portugal's loss-generating state airliner TAP Air Portugal will cut expenses by 30 million euros (S$53.4 million) in 2003 in an effort to return to profit, daily Publico reported. The company intends to keep expenses with salaries next year at the same level as 2002 by encouraging early retirements and a hiring freeze, TAP president Fernando Pinto said during lunch with journalists held last week, the paper said. 'The goal that has been given to each of (TAP's) vice-presidents is that salary expenses and the number of workers, currently around 8,000, could not increase in relation to 2002,' Public quoted him as saying. TAP will also drastically cut back its advertising budget in 2003, with only two campaigns scheduled for the entire year. Luiz Gama Mor, the vice-president of TAP's commercial department, told reporters at the lunch that the airline's advertisement budget for 2002 and 2003 are 'the worst in the company's history', the paper reported. TAP has said it wants to end 2002 with a net loss of 5.3 million euros in 2002, which would be an improvement from the 53.2-million-euro loss it posted in the previous year. The company, which posted a loss of 120 million euros in 2000, has made a commitment to the European Commission to return to profit in 2003. Portugal's centre-right Social Democratic-led government said shortly after it came to power in April that it will go ahead with a much discussed privatisation of TAP next year. - AFP