Spectel focuses on more takeovers

Conferencing products company Spectel, which employs 123 people in the Republic, said it still intends to target at least one multimillion dollar acquisition in the next 12 months "and possibly more", despite having been forced into staff lay-offs amid softer-than-expected sales.

A spokesman for the group said, despite the weaker sales in the year to date and resulting lay-offs, Spectel "is not a company in trouble".

The group has been hit by slowing economic conditions in the US and was badly affected by the collapse of WorldCom, which was one of its biggest customers.

The lay-offs were a sound business decision that was taken in the interests of safeguarding the company's profitability in order that its growth-through-acquisition plans would not be upset, the spokesman said. He added that Spectel was continuing to look at ways to raise funds for acquisitions following a decision by the group earlier this year to abandon an initial public offering.

The source said that any acquisition would probably be at least as big as the group's €35 million takeover last December of US firm Multilink.

It announced yesterday it was to seek 45 redundancies in the Republic and the US. It plans to shed 12 jobs in the State, where it employs 123 people. The company has also revised its full-year sales forecasts to €46 million from €53 million. Last year it posted sales of €42 million.