Newbridge faces financial woes

The cocktail of acquisitions and the Asian crisis takes affect on Q3 figures. Dearbail Jordan reports.

Newbridge Networks has blamed the Asian crisis for its financialn Q3 figures. Dearbail Jordan reports. troubles, which are continuing to escalate after preliminary third quarter figures predicted a huge drop in revenue.

According to the estimated result for the period ending 1 February, revenue is expected to be approximately $360 million, compared with $432 million for the second quarter.

Newbridge revealed that problems ran deeper than the continuing UB Networks saga. Diminished sales for its older TDM networking technology and economic decline in Asia and Latin America were also partly to blame.

The vendor failed to give estimated figures on income for the Q3 results but revealed earnings per share at $0.07, a drop from $0.23 in the previous quarter.

A representative said: 'The company has been hit by all these factors at once.'

However, she dismissed claims that more staff would follow the 280 employees made redundant in December, after the company sustained disappointing results in its Q2, ended 2 November 1997.

She said: 'The restructuring has been done and things will improve in the new financial year.'

The preliminary results are expected to include charges relating to restructuring costs for the former UB Networks, which Newbridge acquired in January last year. The figures are expected to reveal R&D write downs including the UB research which has to be shifted and refocused.

Revenue for the first nine months of the fiscal year is expected to be about #1,227 million, an increase of 30 per cent on the same period for 1997.