Tornos shares take a battering at the bourse
Shares in the Tornos machinery company have come under heavy pressure at the Zurich stock exchange following Thursday's announcement that 200 jobs were to be axed from the 1,300-person workforce.
Shortly after trading opened on Friday, the share price fell by SFr7.10 ($4.32) or 18.39 per cent to SFr31.50. By the close of trade, the price had slipped still further to end the day on SFr30.90. Trading in Tornos shares had been suspended on Thursday.
The lathe maker and supplier has said it expects sales in 2001 to rise by between five and eight per cent to SFr390 - 400 million, compared with an earlier forecast of a rise of 10 per cent.
A statement said the difficult market environment, combined with the terror attacks in the United States, had "seriously undermined" business confidence.
It added that Tornos had been confronted in September with a high number of order cancellations.
The company is to cut 180 jobs at its headquarters in Moutier, canton Bern, and 20 at subsidiaries elsewhere.
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