News in briefs

Doubleclick's Q1 loss narrows



NEW YORK: DoubleClick, the No 1 online advertising network, on Thursday

reported a narrower first quarter loss but warned of a wider-than-expected loss

in the second quarter, amid the slump in the online advertising market. The New

York-based company posted a first quarter loss of 8 cents a share, excluding

certain non-cash and non-recurring items, which was narrower than its loss of 11

cents a share in the same period, a year ago. The company warned in January that

it would report a wider-than-expected loss in the first quarter due to the poor

advertising climate. DoubleClick also said that first quarter revenues grew 4

percent to $114.9 million. —Reuters

Handspring Q3 revenues jump



MOUNTAIN VIEW: Handspring Inc. on Thursday reported a third quarter loss of

$6.7 million on revenues that jumped 261 per cent from a year ago, driven by

sales of its popular handheld computers. The Mountain View, Calif.-based maker

of the pocket-sized personal information managers said its third quarter loss,

excluding amortization of deferred stock compensation and other special items,

was 6 cents on a per share basis. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson

Financial/First Call had predicted third quarter losses in a range of 6 cents a

share and 7 cents a share, with a consensus of 6 cents. Revenues rose to $123.8

million from $34.3 million a year ago, and about $116 million in the second

quarter. The figure exceeded analyst estimates, which were pegged at between

$110 million and $120 million. - Reuters

LSI Logic closes Colorado plant



LSI Logic of Milpitas said it planning to close a Colorado Springs plant to

concentrate production of silicon wafers in two other plants equipped with

next-generation technology. LSI will take a restructuring charge of between $120

million and $150 million to write off fixed assets and cover severance and other

costs. The 500 employees at the Colorado plant will be offered transfers to LSI

Logic's leading-edge plant in Gresham, Oregon, but some 400 will be laid off.

The firm said the action was necessary because of the economic slowdown and

reduced chip demand as customers try to eliminate existing inventories. LSI said

last month that it expected first-quarter sales to drop 30 per cent, due largely

to reduced demand from major customers like Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems.

Lam research to lay off 600



As the slowdown in orders for expensive chip production tools is becoming

more apparant, semiconductor-equipment maker Lam Research in Fremont said it was

laying off 600 people, about 15 per cent of its workforce. The company also said

third-quarter profits of $44 million were disappointing. A year ago, Lam had a

$67 million profit. Sales in the most recent quarter, however, rose 29 per cent

to $421.5 million from $326.3 million. "A slowing economy, coupled with

over-capacity in the semiconductor industry, has resulted in a sharp reduction

to our new orders, as well as push-outs and cancellations to our backlog,"

said James Bagley, chairman and chief executive of Lam. New orders in the

quarter plunged about 60 per cent from the preceding-second quarter, and sales

declined 15 per cent from second-quarter levels.