NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - JDS Uniphase, a humbled communications equipment maker that prospered during the telecom boom, reported a fourth-quarter loss Thursday that widened beyond Wall Street expectations.

Sales in the June quarter fell 63 percent to $222 million as companies continue to cut spending on the fiber-optic equipment made by JDS Uniphase.

The company also announced plans to lay off an unspecified number of employees and close some facilities in coming months.

Ottawa, Ontario-based JDS Uniphase lost $997 million, or 73 cents per share, in the latest quarter. That compares with a loss of $12 billion, or $9.39 a share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding one-time items, JDS Uniphase reported a loss of $140 million, or 10 cents per share. That's wider than the forecasts of analysts surveyed by First Call, who expected a loss of 3 cents per share on sales of $212.4 million.

Shares of JDS Uniphase (JDSU: Research, Estimates) fell 49 cents to $2.52 Thursday ahead of the results, which were released after the market closed. The company's shares peaked above $150 in March 2000.

Looking ahead, the company said it anticipates first-quarter sales of $200 million to $210 million "as the downturn in the company's markets continues."

It expects to lose 6 cents to 8 cents a share in the first quarter, wider than the loss of 3 cents per share that analysts had forecast.

Stung by the collapse of the telecommunications industry, JDS Uniphase has cut thousands of jobs over the last two years. It did not detail the number of staff or sites it would shut under the latest layoff plan, but said it presently has slightly more than 9,000 employees.  

--from staff and wire reports