Instinet, the electronic brokerage in which Reuters has a 63% stake, is to cut a further 185 staff - or 15% of its workforce - in an attempt to reduce operating costs by $30 million anually.
The firm will also record a $60 million charge against fourth quarter 2003 earnings.
In a statement Instinet says a 'significant portion' of the charge is related to the jobs cull - which is expected to be completed by July 2004 - and consolidation of its office space.
Instinet says the latest redundancies are in addition to previous cost reduction programmes which reduced annual operating costs at the firm by $160 million between Q4 2002 and Q3 2003. Instinet layed off 175 staff in March last year in order to reduce costs by $20 million annually.
The company also says it will also record a $22 million charge in the fourth quarter of 2003 for accounting purposes related to technology assets that were capitalised in 2002 as part of its acquisition of Island ECN.
Edward Nicoll, Instinet Group's chief executive officer, says: "This cost-reduction is part of our previously announced plan to reorganise and streamline our company."