The market is conditioned to shocks from Nixdorf Computer AG these days but the shares still shed another 2.8% of their value as the company reported a second quarter pre-tax operating loss equivalent to $76m, which added to the first quarter loss left the total deficit for the half-year at $152m. The company’s earlier rapid growth rate has now slowed to a crawl and turnover in the first half rose only 5.2% to $1,243m. The operating loss for the first half last year was $13m. A further sign of weakness was that orders in hand at June 30 were $2,840, a 3% decline from the year-ago figure. A bright spot was that while business within Germany fell by 2%, the rest of the world rose 14%. The company is confident that its cost-cutting measures will bear fruit in the traditionally stronger second half employment is down to 29,600 from a 31,000 peak – but not sufficiently to enable the Paderborner to report a profit for the year. The current forecast is for an operating loss of about $92m, which at the net level could be reduced to $10m after planned sales of property. The company blames a cut-back in spending at major banks at a time when it was investing heavily in new products for its woes.
