Fujitsu to slash 4,500 jobs

After bottom line swing of over $1bn- going the wrong way...

Fujitsu is cutting more staff after sales for its chips and communications gadgets slumped, forcing it to slash second quarter predictions again. The company promised job losses of 4,500 staff by March 2002, after announcing a loss of $969m or $0.49 a share for the quarter ended 30 September. For the period a year earlier Fujitsu reported a profit of JPY30.5bn (£20m) or JPY15.4 (£0.08) per share. A charge of JPY203bn (£1.1m) was added to the first half results because the company re-organised to save money. Another charge of JPY147bn (£840m) is expected for the second half due to further restructuring after suffering losses from its semiconductor business. In its second forecast revision, Fujitsu said full year earnings would hit a group loss of JPY310bn (£1.7bn) on sales of JPY5.2 trillion (£29bn). The company blamed this on the 11 September attacks.