We are aiming to reduce the workforce slightly as a result of the downturn in the marketplace

Bookham Technology

About 100 are based at the company's manufacturing plant in Abingdon, near Oxford, while the remaining 50 are at its assembly and test facility in Swindon.

"We are aiming to reduce the workforce slightly as a result of the downturn in the marketplace suffered by the industry as a whole," said a company spokesman.

Bookham said it had not calculated the estimated cost of any redundancy packages. A figure will emerge over the next quarter.

Share slide

Last month the company's shares fell 17% to 650p after it reported that its net losses had doubled in the final three months of 2000.

Bookham announced a net loss of �8.5m for the fourth quarter, compared to �6.4m in the previous quarter and �4.5m in the fourth quarter of 1999.

Bookham floated in April, with its shares rising swiftly to help it briefly become a FTSE 100 stock.

On Thursday, Bookham's share were trading down 0.6% at 514p during the morning, despite news of the redundancies.

Nortel sales

Additionally, lower sales of fibre optic transmitters and receivers to Bookham's client Nortel Networks led to a profit warning in January.

Nortel accounts for about half of Bookham's sales.

Last month, Nortel itself cut its 2001 revenue forecast by half, warning it would post a first-quarter loss.

Fibre optic networks form the backbone of the internet.