Newly-merged telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent said Friday it plans to shed a total of 12,500 jobs over the next three years, instead of the 9,000 originally announced. The news came after the company swung to a loss in the fourth quarter, the first time it has reported combined earnings. It gave no details of where the cuts would be made.
"These are difficult but necessary decisions, and we will manage these reductions with care," said chief executive Patricia Russo in the company's statement. The Paris-based company posted a net loss of 618 million euros ($803 million) for the October-December period compared with a profit of 381 million euros ($495 million) for the year-ago quarter, when calculated as if Alcatel's November acquisition of Lucent had already taken place.
It seems as though Russo will perform a gradual cull. A report on the Web site of L'Expansion magazine earlier this week said that Alcatel-Lucent (nyse: ALU - news - people ) had plans to cut 15,000 to 20,000 jobs. That's 20% of the newly merged company's global workforce, and well above the 9,000 job cuts it had previously announced.
Last month, Alcatel-Lucent warned that on a pro-forma basis, it wouldn't make a cent in operating profit for the fourth quarter, prompting shares to plunge 10% in Paris. (See: "Clouds Over Alcatel-Lucent.") Shares of Alcatel-Lucent rose 3.0% to 10.43 euros ($13.55) in mid-Friday afternoon trading in Paris.
source news : www.forbes.com
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