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The company announced on Tuesday that it had reduced its headcount by 2,000 during the second quarter ending 30 September and had incurred a STG100 million exceptional charge to reflect the restructuring cost. The firm now has 19,000 employees globally and plans to reduce this number to 15,000 by the second half of 2003.
The company also revealed that it has trimmed its Irish workforce by a massive 64 percent over the last six months, with 240 employees here cut from Marconi's payroll. Currently, the firm has 120 Irish employees, with around 75 based in Swords and the reminder in Dun Laoghaire.
In its pre-results announcement for the second quarter, the British company said that sales of its core products had slipped 6 percent sequentially and 40 percent year-on-year, to STG482 million. Marconi Chief Executive Mike Parton said that the company continues to experience an "extremely challenging trading environment" and said that the firm was aggressively cutting costs to reflect this reality.
In Tuesday's figures the company said that net debt had been reduced by STG170 million to STG2.8 billion and Marconi is planning to distribute STG260 million to creditors. The company attributed the decrease in net debt primarily to debt reduction arising from the sale of its Strategic Communications subsidiary and the effects of foreign exchange movements.
Marconi also said it was on track to complete a STG4 billion debt restructuring by the end of January. Announced in late August, the debt-for-equity swap will wipe out almost all Marconi's equity to pay off its bondholders, leaving shareholders with just 0.5 percent of the company.
Most analysts have attributed Marconi's financial troubles to the ceaseless decay of the telecoms equipment market, as well as to the company's policy of acquisition and investment in the late 1990s.
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