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Bull revamps, sees losses
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November 30, 2000: 6:11 a.m. ET
French computer maker to split, sell $340M of assets amid continued losses
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LONDON (CNNfn) - French computer maker Bull SA plans to split itself in two and sell 400 million euros ($344 million) of non-core assets, it said Thursday, but warned it would remain in the red in its fiscal second half.
Bull said it expected results to be "significantly negative" in the half year, although it forecast an improvement compared with the first-half's net loss of  96.1 million.
The company blamed weak demand for servers in Europe, especially France. It said a pick-up in orders over the past few months came too late to contribute to revenue for this year.
Bull shares (PBUL) tumbled 5.8 percent to 6.04, trimming its market value to just under 1 billion. This year's loss will mark the third straight year the company has failed to make a significant profit, after losing 288 million in 1999 and breaking even the previous year.
Several major U.S. computer firms, including Dell Computer Corp. (DELL: Research, Estimates), have warned that profits will fall short of analysts' expectations as poor European sales cut into earnings.
The Louveciennes, France-based firm will begin restructuring itself from Jan. 1, forming a services division and another unit providing infrastructure and systems. Bull said it will also create a server subsidiary and look for partners in the supply of information technology systems and infrastructure.
The company aims to wrap up the changes by June 30, and said it might adjust its staff numbers. 
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Bull
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