Nortel to cut 1,300 jobs after 3Q losses

TORONTO, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Canadian communications giant Nortel Networks is cutting 1,300 jobs and freezing hiring after major third-quarter losses, the Toronto company said Monday.

Losses including write-downs, totaled $3.41 billion in the fiscal quarter ending in September, compared to a profit of $27 million a year earlier, the company said.

The company posted a $113 million loss in the second quarter, the Ottawa Citizen reported.

Earlier this year, Nortel announced 2,000 job cuts but said Monday another 1,300 positions would be eliminated beginning this year and into 2009.

Sales in the quarter were down 14 percent to $2.32 billion and the company warned overall sales for the full year would fall by 4 percent,

Citing global "worsening economic conditions, together with extreme volatility in the financial, foreign exchange and credit markets," Nortel Chief Executive Officer Mike Zafirovski said the company had little choice but scale back.

"We are therefore taking further decisive actions in an environment of decreased visibility and customer spending levels," he wrote.