AGILENT Technologies, which employs 1200 of its 2000 UK staff in South Queensferry, has said it will cut a further 11% of its global workforce after reporting a wider quarterly loss for the three months to the end of January.
The company, a leading manufacturer of scientific instruments and analysis equipment, said it would cut 4000 jobs as it tries to return to profitability amid the chip-equipment industry's worst-ever slump.
Agilent, which has posted seven straight quarterly losses, has already cut about 10,500 jobs during the past 15 months to leave its global staff at about 36,000.
A UK spokeswoman for Agilent, which spun off from Hewlett-Packard in June 2000, said it would be several weeks before it was known how the job cuts would affect the Scottish operation.
''We have no further information to add to the press release this afternoon,'' she said.
While a possible war with Iraq may affect the economy, Agilent said it expected a smaller loss in the current quarter because of a seasonal pick-up in semiconductor sales and a rebound in demand for semiconductor test equipment.
However, Ned Barnholt, chief executive, said he had no reason to believe business would improve materially in the coming quarters. For its fiscal first quarter, which ended on January 31, Agilent posted a net loss of $369m ((pounds) 232m), compared with a loss of (pounds) 198m a year earlier.
Revenues for the three months came in at (pounds) 887m. Before exceptional charges, Agilent lost (pounds) 70m in the quarter.
The company said customers had delayed orders during the quarter because of the weak economy and geopolitical uncertainty.
Shares in Agilent have fallen 27% this year, but have recovered slightly since February 6, when they tumbled after the company warned that first-quarter losses would be greater than expected.
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