Dragonwave will eliminate 48 jobs, principally in the Ottawa and Israel offices; individual office cutbacks were not disclosed on Thursday in a press release.
While the company expects to save US$6 million annually from the move, it forecasts a $1 million hit in restructuring charges, as well as $1.6 million in cash usage, that will both impact the third-quarter results.
In a statement, CEO Peter Allen said the job eliminations are coming because of a shift in focus after the company acquired Nokia Siemens Networks' microwave transport business and integrated it into DragonWave on June 1.
He said more changes could come as the company uses the acquired properties and employees.
"We are utilizing this experience to rationalize our operations, with a focus on reducing recurring costs," Mr. Allen stated.
"Transition and integration activities ... are ongoing and we continue to evaluate the appropriate scale for the combined business. We will closely monitor the need to adjust our cost profile as these activities progress and as we gain greater visibility into revenue opportunities."
When the Nokia acquisition was first announced in November 2011, officials said DragonWave would more than double its headcount to 630. At the same time, the firm warned it would eliminate some jobs through harmonizations.
At the time, Mr. Allen called the acquisition "both unique and truly transformational for DragonWave" since it would diversify the business.
DragonWave's revenues traditionally came mainly from one chief customer, Clearwire, and were hammered after Clearwire slowed a network build in 2010. DragonWave has been struggling to recover since then.
Even after the Nokia business acquisition was announced, DragonWave had to push the timing back a quarter and amend the terms due to poor economic conditions in Europe.
On June 4, just days after the takeover took effect, DragonWave eliminated 68 positions across its Ottawa and Israel offices, while upping its presence in regional offices. The changes were supposed to reduce costs and reflect Nokia's global business, Mr. Allen stated at the time.
While the company is cutting back on employees, DragonWave has maintained its revenue forecast for the second quarter thus far. In July it forecast $35 million to $45 million in revenues, but updated that figure Monday to say revenues would likely be north of $40 million.
The mobile backhaul provider posted a loss of $12.6 million or $0.35 per share in first-quarter results released in July. This was a 21-per-cent deepening from a $9.9 million loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2012.
Revenues improved to $13 million, up from $11 million the year before. The results included an $800,000 restructuring charge and a $2.9-million impairment of intangible assets charge.






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