French telecoms equipment maker Alcatel warned today it will post an operating loss in 2002, sending its shares down by over 25 per cent to a record low.
The company, which employs 150 staff in the Republic at offices in Dublin and Cork, also announced a fresh restructuring plan.
In an unexpected move, worsening an already black day for technology investors, Chief Financial Officer Mr Jean-Pascal Beaufret said the company would post an operating loss in 2002.
As recently as April, Alcatel, one of the world's top three equipment suppliers, said it was expecting an operating profit.
The restructuring is the latest in a series of moves to rein in spending and will reduce costs by 12 per cent in 2003, the company said.
Alcatel shares plummeted as much as 27 per cent to €6.83, wiping three billion euros off the market value of a company whose shares have now fallen 60 per cent this year.
Alcatel, whose rivals include Ericsson and Nortel Networks, is already in the process of slashing 30,000 jobs over 2001 and 2002.