Department store group V&D is poised to ask for court protection from its creditors, broadcaster Nos says on Wednesday, quoting union sources.

The company has been in financial difficulty for some time and earlier this year tried to reduce staff wages by 5.8%. That move was rejected in court. However, V&D did reduce its workforce by 400 jobs and forced its landlords to accept lower rents. V&D has 63 department stores in the Netherlands.

V&D received a new cash injection of €47m from its owner, private equity investor Sun Capital, in July. The new investment is a buy-out of the bank consortium which had been propping up V&D since its financial problems became apparent earlier this year.

‘December is the month in which you need to earn money,’ Nos economics reporter Nick Wouters said. ‘If you need to ask for suspension of payments this month, you are in a very bad position.’