Shares in fibre optics firm Bookham Technology slumped by around a fifth yesterday afternoon after the company issued its second profits warning this year and said it would lay off another 100 staff.

A market star last year, Bookham's share price has crashed from a high of £53.80 to close at just 232p on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

The firm said that sales for the three months to the end of June would be 55 per cent lower than for the previous three months, and that the 100 job losses would be in addition to the 150 announced in March.

Chief executive Giorgio Anania said: "Notwithstanding the downturn in the market, we are confident that the long-term prospects for the deployment of silicon integrated optical chips in optical networking systems remains strong."

See also:

Marconi to sell Optical Components unit

Subsidiary goes to Bookham Technologies for £19.7m  17 Dec 2001

Job cuts: Reality bites

Job-cut figures are skyrocketing as confidence about any imminent recovery in market conditions dwindles. Over the last three months the telecoms industry alone has lost over 290,000 staff, according to reports in the FT. And announcements at the end of July indicate that a further 10,000 UK IT workers will soon be out of a job.  29 Jul 2001

Hi-tech stocks take another tumble

UK technology stocks took another pounding during early trading on Thursday, reflecting massive falls the day before on Nasdaq. The index fell seven per cent, the second largest drop in its history.  14 Apr 2000

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