Plumbing supplies group Reliance Worldwide plans to cut about 50 jobs in the United States to help slash costs by $US15 million ($21.8 million) annually after delivering a 4.6 per cent rise in interim net profits to $US66.6 million.

Reliance chief executive Heath Sharp said the company would restructure and that most job cuts would be in the US, where it employs about 1000 people. “We really have had to take a fresh approach to the US market,” he said.