Nortel Warns of Worse First Quarter, More Job Cuts
OTTAWA March 27 (Reuters) - Nortel Networks Corp. (Toronto:NT.TO - news) (NYSE:NT - news), the world's No. 1 supplier of telecommunications equipment, warned on Tuesday that its first-quarter results will fall below analysts' expectations and it will cut more jobs amid a U.S. economic slowdown.
In Nortel's second cut to estimates, the company said it now expects a loss from operations of 10 cents to 12 cents per share on revenues of $6.1 billion to $6.2 billion. The company had previously estimated a loss of 4 cents per share on revenues of $6.3 billion.
Nortel, whose shares were halted pending the announcement, also said it was cutting more jobs, laying off 15,000 staff by mid-2001. The company has already cut close to 10,000 jobs, or about 10 percent of its staff, and said it would see benefits from those reductions in the second quarter of 2001.
``Given the poor visibility into the duration and breadth of the economic downturn, and its impact on the overall market growth in 2001, it is not possible to provide meaningful guidance for the company's financial performance for the full year 2001,'' chief executive John Roth said in a statement.
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