Shares in the Canadian telecoms giant Nortel have risen after the company said its fourth-quarter losses would not be as bad as expected.

In New York shares in Nortel closed up 77 cents at $7.13.

The company said its fourth-quarter revenues would fall to $3.4bn, from $3.69bn the previous quarter.

A loss of 16 cents a share was forecast, which was slightly better than analysts expectations.

At the height of the technology boom Nortel was considered one of the top names in the hi-tech industry, and at one point it was one of the most valuable companies in the world.

But the collapse in the tech-sector has hit it hard, and it has had to make big cuts in its workforce to cut costs.

At the start of 2001 it employed about 95,000 people, but it expects to employ only 52,000 by the end of the year, and plans to bring the total down to 48,000.