Affiniti to shed more than 100 staff

Parent company KCOM announces job cuts after 10 per cent dip in revenue

Integrator Affiniti is set to lose up to 150 staff as parent company KCOM reported a 10 per cent dip in revenue from its integration and managed services (I&MS) unit.

The I&MS business comprises Affiniti, which has just over 1,000 employees, and several smaller companies. KCOM issued a management statement today revealing the unit's revenue had been severely impacted by the economic climate, having dropped 10 per cent year-on-year during the nine months to 31 December.

KCOM indicated its telecoms and internet services arm performed steadily during this time, with operating profit increasing, albeit before exceptional items and tax.

The company revealed 150 jobs are to go from the I&MS business as part of an ongoing drive to reduce the group's overall cost base. It claimed the reduction in headcount was a "key component" in transforming I&MS into a tighter unit, focused on higher margin offerings and recurring services revenues.

KCOM claimed it expected the unit to return to profitability, before exceptional items, by the end of this year. It also indicated net debt, which peaked in September, will have been reduced by the end of March.

The company claimed it was working from a "solid financial base" and had a committed bank facility in place for the next three years. It stated that it believed it would end 2009 better equipped to weather the testing economic conditions.

Affiniti endured some torrid times last year, beginning when KCOM issued a statement in January indicating the I&MS group's results for Q3 2008 would be at the lower end of expectations. The integrator also shed about 100 staff over the course of the year as its parent company took a £3m hit following Lehman Brothers' collapse.