Network equipment vendor Juniper Networks announced on Friday that
it will cut its staff by 8% or 9% and revised its second-quarter
revenue projections downward amid what it called a challenging
service provider and global carrier business environment.
The company is not disclosing at this time how many employees the
8% or 9% actually represent, Juniper Networks spokeswoman Kathy
Durr said. Juniper will take a one-time charge of $45m (£32.58m)
for the staff reductions, the company said in a statement. The cost
will also take into account Juniper's revaluation of the company's
investment portfolio to reflect the reduced valuation in its
private and public investments, the company said.
Juniper now expects revenue for the second quarter of 2001 to be
approximately $200m to $210m, down from original guidance of $300m
and $330m. This will result in pro forma earnings per share of
$0.08 to $0.09, Juniper said. Twenty-six analysts polled by Thomson
Financial/First Call initially had a consensus earnings
expectations of $0.24 a share.
The current challenging market conditions are because of "a
capacity absorption cycle" taking place throughout the industry,
Juniper said.