British telecom equipment maker Marconi said today it was to cut another 4,000 jobs as it revealed second-quarter sales had collapsed 40 per cent from the same period a year ago.
The company said sales in the three months to September 30th fell to £482 million (€765 million), a 6 per cent decline from the three months to June.
The company, which said it had cut 2,000 jobs in the latest quarter, reducing its staff to 19,000, said it intended to lower its headcount further to around 15,000 early in the next financial year.
In August the company announced a restructuring plan intended to reduce debt and leaving existing shareholders with just 0.5 per cent of the new business.
The debts are a legacy of the group's aggressive expansion drive in the United States as part of efforts to transform itself from a defence and electronics group into a telecommunications equipment maker just before the sector ran into trouble. AFP