Alcatel-Lucent to cut 5,000 jobs

Alcatel-Lucent has said it will slash costs and cut 5,000 jobs after it posted a net loss for the second quarter of 254 million euro (£199 million).

The Franco-American telecommunications equipment maker unveiled a restructuring plan today that it said would take 1.25 billion euro (£980 million) off its bottom line by next year. Some of that sum includes cuts that had already been announced.

The company said the global economic slowdown and heightened competition were hitting profits and that it would exit or reduce operations in markets where it was struggling.

Alcatel warned last week that it would miss its earnings estimates for this quarter and the year.

The Paris-based firm reported revenue of 3.5 billion euro (£2.7 billion) for April to June, down 7.1% from the same period last year.