Vignette Corp., a supplier of electronic-business applications, confirmed Friday that it has cut about 450 jobs, or 15 per cent of its work force, to reduce operations cost.
A spokesman for the Austin, Tex.-based company said it will also consolidate certain facilities. He confirmed the company is thinking about closing offices. Vignette, which has a worldwide presence, expects the reorganization to result in about US$100 million in savings over the next year.
Cuts were made across the board, no specific department was hit hard, the spokesman said.
Vignette said in its earnings statement released Thursday that its long-term outlook and market position are strong. However, the company cited “recent uncertainty surrounding the overall IT spending environment and customer hesitancy to make large capital expenditures,” as a reason to restate its financial outlook for fiscal year 2001 and for the reorganization.
Vignette Thursday reported a US$6.3 million core operating loss, equating to nil per share, for its fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31. For the year the loss was $24.3 million, or nil per share. The results, for the quarter and the year, met the consensus estimate of 20 analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial.
Revenue was $123.9 million for the quarter, representing a 203 per cent increase over the same period a year ago. Revenue for the full year was $366.7 million, a 311 percent increase over 1999.
Vignette said it expects core earnings per share of $0.01 for the current first quarter and $0.09 for the full fiscal year 2001. Revenue should be $100 million in Q1 and $500 million for the year, the company said.
Vignette provides electronic-business applications to customers like German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG and United Airlines Inc.
Vignette can be reached at http://www.vignette.com/.