More than 100 jobs will be lost in Belfast after the collapse of an e-commerce company - the latest victim of the global dot.com slump.

Lution Ltd said yesterday it was ceasing trading immediately, with the loss of 83 jobs. A further 18 jobs would go as part of a restructuring at parent company BIC.

Lution, which was established to match new IT business ideas with international sources of venture capital, blamed the closure on the "sudden collapse of confidence in the worldwide dot.com sector following the failure of several major international technology companies in recent weeks". The BIC Systems Group said its core business remained unaffected. After the restructuring it would employ a total of 160 people, mainly at its Belfast Harbour Estate headquarters.

BIC, which was established in 1984, is recognised as a leading player in the IT sector.

The closure is the first by a Northern Ireland e-commerce company and senior industry sources said the collapse was "completely unexpected".

However, a leading Belfast financial analyst said he believed it may not be the last dot.com victim in Northern Ireland.