Losses narrow at 3Com

3Com has reported narrowed losses with the announcement of its Q2 results, which show its restructuring plan is on track.

The networking firm reported a net loss for the quarter of $104m on revenues of $394 million. This compares to a net loss of $129m on revenues of $390 million in Q1.

Operating expenses, which include amortization and write-down of intangibles and restructuring charges, were $231 million, an improvement of $76 million sequentially. 3Com's annual expenditure is now $865 million less than it was a year ago.

Looking ahead, 3Com said Q3 revenues are likely to be down between five to 10 per cent on Q2 with Q4 revenues roughly matching those in Q2.

During the past year 3Com has shed 6,000 jobs, almost half its workforce and exited several unprofitable business areas, including the fledgling Internet appliance market and the consumer broadband-modem business.

3Com is now focusing its business on the telco market, through its CommWorks unit, the enterprise networking market (3Com's Business Networks Company) and a business connectivity company, which supplies NICs and the like.

The firm reports that it has achieved "positive cash flow" from its remaining operations ®