More lay offs, a new CEO, and a profits warning at Nortel

NEWS In what now sounds almost like a routine announcement, Nortel has said it will shed a further 15,000 staff and issued a third-quarter profits warning. But amidst the continuing gloom - not just limited to the Canadian provider but the whole of the communications equipment sector - the company also announced the successor to CEO John Roth. Frank Dunn, Nortel CFO, will take the helm on 1 November. Veteran company employee Roth, who earlier this year revealed an end to his time in the top post, will stay on as vice chairman until the end of next year. Nortel chairman Lynton Wilson said in a statement that the appointment had been made "after an extensive search internally and externally". Dunn has been at the company for 25 years. The latest job cuts come in a year when 30,000 Nortel employees have already been let go. This means the company will have halved its workforce in 2001. For Q3, the company said it expects to post revenue of $3.5bn and a loss of $910m. Other charges will bump the loss up to about $3.6bn. Analysts had forecast revenue of $4bn for the period. Largely due to the broad slump in the industry, Nortel will this year see sales fall dramatically from a high of $30bn in 2000. The company maintains that the cost cutting - in tandem with either the write-off or sale of business units, including CRM operation Clarify, bought by Amdocs yesterday - is essential to make the company sustainable and profitable in the long-term.