Sapient to fire 390 workers

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Bloomberg) — Sapient Corp., an Internet-commerce systems developer,
said it will fire 390 workers, a 14 percent reduction, and the company’s second-
quarter loss was wider than forecasts as sales fell 31 percent. The loss was 7
cents a share, excluding one-time costs, Sapient said in a statement. The company
was expected to have a loss of 6 cents on that basis, the average estimate of
analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. Sales slowed to $87 million from
$125.8 million in the year- earlier period as corporations canceled or postponed
spending on Internet-related projects, and dot-com customers went out of business.
Sapient fired another 720 workers in March for those reasons. The latest firings
will be made at Sapient’s offices in Austin, Texas; Dallas; New York; and San
Francisco, spokeswoman Ingrid Ekstrom said.