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To: Johnny Canuck who wrote (40037)	8/12/2003 1:29:12 PM
From: Johnny Canuck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70069

JDS cuts continue to drain Ottawa By Ottawa Business Journal Staff Tue, Aug 12, 2003 8:00 AM EST Jozef Straus, CEO of JDS Uniphase The "global realignment program" of optical equipment maker JDS Uniphase Corp. has reduced the Ottawa workforce to less than 600, the company confirmed this week. Company CEO and co-chairman Jozef Straus said the Ottawa workforce now includes only 580 workers. That total compares to the company peak of 10,000 two years ago and the 860 that JDS reported in the spring for the latest edition of the OBJ's Technology Industry Guide. The loss of 94 per cent of the local workforce puts JDS at the top of the list for local job cuts compared to fellow telecom equipment makers Alcatel Canada and Nortel Networks. Weighing against it was the fact that its product base was much more specialized than Nortel's, making it somewhat more vulnerable to the telecom slump. Globally, JDS employs about 5,500, down from a peak of 29,000. Speaking with the Globe and Mail, company CEO and co-chairman Jozef Straus acknowledged that the cuts are not yet complete. "A large degree is done," he said. The global realignment program is expected to wrap up by December. After more than two years of cost-cutting, the company is still another two years away from a profit, according to many analysts. It has already posted 17 straight quarterly losses. One thing in its favour is a strong cash position. JDS has $1.23 billion in cash. The company has targetted next June to break even on an operating basis (figures in U.S. dollars). Straus said he has no regrets about the decisions of the past four years, which included several acquisitions overpriced by billions of dollars that piled up a total of $67.26 billion worth of debt. "Let's put it this way," he told the Globe and Mail. "We had a tremendous amount of growth here and I was extremely glad we provided opportunities for many, many people in Ottawa. "On the other hand, you always want to create some degree of sustainability and legacy, moving forward. This would have happened whether this is Uniphase or not Uniphase. We are just mimicking the response of the entire industry." At about CDN$4 a share on the TSX, the stock is still considered overvalued by most analysts given the outlook on the sector. The stock peaked at CDN$219 in March 2000. Last month, JDS reported a net loss of $61.6 million, or four cents per share, for its fourth quarter. That compared to a loss of $1.04 billion, or 76 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenues continued to fall, to $161 million from $166 million in the third quarter ended in March. Net sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002 were $222 million.