Autodesk to cut 750 jobs

Autodesk Inc., the software company that has lost its leader to Yahoo, is cutting 750 jobs, or about 10 percent of its work force to cut expenses and expects to report a loss rather than a profit for the fourth quarter.

The announcement of job cuts and the financial forecast Thursday sent the company's shares down more than 10 percent in morning trading.

Autodesk, which makes architectural and engineering software, said it will also consolidate some facilities in addition to making the job cuts, and expects a savings of $130 million annually.

The company said it will likely report a loss of 5 cents to 12 cents per share on sales of $475 million to $500 million for the quarter ending this month. In November, Autodesk said it expected a profit of 13 cents to 19 cents per share with sales of $525 million to $550 million.

Excluding items and expenses related to the job cuts, Autodesk said it will report earnings of 18 cents to 24 cents per share. The restructuring charges should come to 15 cents or 16 cents per share, the company said.

Analysts, who typically exclude one-time charges, were expecting earnings of 31 cents per share, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

The announcement comes two days after the internet company Yahoo Inc. disclosed it had hired Autodesk executive chairman and former CEO Carol Bartz as its new chief executive. That ended Yahoo's two-month effort to replace Jerry Yang.

Bartz spent 17 years with Autodesk and saw sales grow by $300,000 while she was chief executive.

Source : AP
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