Portugal Telecom to shed up to 1,000 jobs next year

LISBON (AFP) - Portugal Telecom, the country's largest telecommunications operator, plans to slash between 500 and 1,000 jobs in 2005 in order to boost profits, the company's chief financial officer said Tuesday.
The company will spend around 250 million euros (319 million dollars) next year in severance pay if 1,000 workers are removed from payrolls, national news agency Lusa quoted Zeinal Bava as saying.
Portugal Telecom, which primarily provides telecommunications and multimedia services in Portugal and Brazil, currently counts just over 26,000 workers.
Earlier Tuesday the company announced a 1.4 percent drop in net profit in the third quarter of 2004 from the same time last year to 133.9 million euros as increased competition in Latin America increased costs and trimmed revenue.
Shares in the company closed up 0.78 percent at 9.06 euros on a day when the benchmark PSI-20 index of leading Portuguese shares gained 0.42 percent at 7.561,37 points.

11/02/2004 - 19:58 GMT - AFP