Lucent To Cut 15,000 To 20,000 Jobs

Telecommunications Maker Posted 3rd-Quarter Loss Of $3.25B Dividend Eliminated Company Has Already Shed 19,000 Jobs.

NEW YORK, July 24, 2001 AP (CBS) Lucent Technologies Inc. plans to cut another 15,000 to 20,000 jobs from its payroll in and is eliminating its dividend in a bid to return to profitability.

The announcement Tuesday came as the embattled telecommunications maker posted a fiscal third-quarter loss of $3.25 billion, far wider than expectations.

Lucent said it was eliminating its dividend beginning Sept. 1 in a move the company said would free up $68 million annually.

Lucent has already cut its work force by 19,000 jobs since January, and has also eliminated 5,500 contractor positions. The additional cuts will mean Lucent has trimmed its work force, which numbered 123,000 at the beginning of the year, by 32 percent.

Lucent will take a $7 billion to $9 billion charge in its fiscal fourth quarter to pay for the restructuring, as well as additional asset write-downs as the company streamlines its product offerings.

"I am pleased with the progress we have made on all points of Phase I of our restructuring program," chief executive and chairman Henry Schacht said. "However, we intend to go deeper with a new phase of our restructuring to reshape Lucent for future growth and

For the three months ended June 30, Lucent lost 95 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $301 million, or 9 cents share, in the year-ago quarter, the Murray Hill, N.J.-based company said Tuesday.

Excluding discontinued operations, Lucent lost $1.89 billion, or 55 cents per share. Excluding other one-time items, including a $684 million restructuring charge, Lucent lost 37 cents per share, compared with 35 cents per share in the year-ago period.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call were expecting a loss of 21 cents per share.

Revenue from continuing operations declined 21 percent to $5.82 billion compared with $7.41 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Separately, Lucent said it is selling its manufacturing assets at Oklahoma City and Columbus, Ohio to Celestica Inc. for up to $650 million and signed a five-year supply agreement under which Celestica will make switching, access and wireless networking systems products for Lucent.

http://cbsnews.cbs.com/now/story/0,1597,302999-412,00.shtml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), July 24, 2001