Brokat axes 300 jobs

NEWS German software vendor Brokat Technologies said it will axe 300 staff from its workforce in an attempt to break even in the fourth quarter. Brokat, which manufactures software for online transactions and mobile phones, said offices in the Belgium, Israel and the Netherlands would close, producing savings of around E15m (£9.2m). Two hundred staff in the US were given their marching orders on Monday, representing almost three quarters of the GemStone server development team that Brokat acquired in a $270m all-stock $800m deal last June. However, Brokat said it remained on track to reach its targets and should meet its lowered full-year sales forecast of between E180m and E190m (£110m and £116m).