Travel software specialists Datalex said it will cut over 100 jobs after it reported an 11 per cent fall in revenues in the second quarter to $7 million.
The company said gross margin tightened to 6 per cent in the second quarter from 36 per cent in the first quarter of the year. Adjusted loss per share was $0.14 in the second quarter of 2001 compared to $0.08 a year ago.
Commenting on today’s results, Mr Neil Wilson, chief executive of Datalex, said: "a slow down in spending among potential new customers and some of our existing customers means performance for the second quarter of this year has been disappointing."
Datalex is undergoing a restructuring programme in response to slowing business activity. Its regional management structure has been streamlined to become more centralised to reduce the number of managers.
The closure of its Johannesburg and Arizona offices and one of its Dublin facilities will cut over 100 jobs from its payroll.
The job cuts will amount to a charge of around $1.5 million which will be reflected in Datalex's third quarter results.
Datalex said in a statement that the restructuring programme will cut almost $4 million from its cost base. The company remained adamant it would return to profitability in early 2002.
Though remaining cautious for the rest of the year Mr Wilson said the online travel industry remains one of the world’s major and Datalex had developed strong market presence o9ver the past two years.
"These factors, combined with the actions we have taken to return the company to profitability, give us confidence that we will be well positioned when more favourable trading conditions emerge" Mr Wilson added.