Electronic brokerage Instinet has announced it is to shed approximately 300 employees, 17 per cent of its workforce, as a part of a $100 million cost cutting plan.
The announcement comes as the company integrates with electronic communications network Island which it acquired in September.
The firm will record charges of $58 million in the fourth quarter of 2002 and incur an additional $15 million of expenses over the first three quarters of 2003 relating to leasehold amortisation costs on its New York office space.
Ed Nicoll, Instinet’s CEO comments: "These cost reductions are part of a previously announced plan to eliminate redundant positions within the Instinet-Island combination, to reduce overhead to reflect current market conditions, and to bring greater efficiency to the company as a whole."
Reuters, which owns a 63 per cent stake in Instinet, says the cuts are consistent with cost savings plans across the group.