Unisys Will Cut 1,250 Positions

Friday, December 8th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PHILADELPHIA (AP) â€” Unisys Corp. will lay off 1,250 people worldwide, most of them by the end of the year, as it continues to cut back on less profitable computer equipment operations, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lawrence A. Weinbach told financial analysts Thursday.

The computer software and equipment company expects its fourth-quarter earnings to be in line with analysts' expectations of 41 cents a share, Weinbach said at a meeting in New York.

Unisys had said in October it was offering early retirement packages to 1,500 employees, and Weinbach said 750 have accepted those offers.

An additional 1,250 positions ``are being eliminated through worldwide involuntary reductions,'' he said.

Unisys, which employs about 36,000 people in 100 countries, is increasing its concentration on software and services for electronic business.

The company will continue cutting back on dealing with suppliers to obtain equipment such as personal computers to supply to customers, meeting such needs instead through agreements with Ingram Micro and Dell, Weinbach said. Unisys will continue making equipment such as large servers for electronic commerce.

The Blue Bell-based company announced third-quarter earnings of $42.9 million, or 14 cents a share, in October, which matched Wall Street analysts' estimates but were down from earnings of $138.4 million, or 43 cents a share, a year earlier.

In the fourth quarter, Weinbach said in a news release, revenue will be down from year-ago levels, but earnings per share will be in line analysts' estimates.

The company had announced a one-time pretax charge of about $200 million in the fourth quarter for the early retirements, and Weinbach said the charge is now expected to be $150 million to $175 million.

In line with the change in focus to electronic business, Weinbach said Unisys expects next year ``to aggressively hire people, primarily in client-facing positions focused on sales and delivery, to ensure the company has the mix of skills required to address the e-business environment.''