Iomega slashes jobs, posts poor earnings

Iomega, a Zip storage-drive maker, is slashing 800 to 1,100 jobs worldwide and is set to relocate its headquarters to the West Coast, the company announced Thursday.

One source said the location would be San Diego.

The move comes as the Roy, Utah-based company reported a second-quarter loss and a drop in revenue Thursday, which it blamed on flagging sales of Zip and Jaz drives.

Iomega reported a second-quarter loss of $35.9 million, or 13 cents per diluted share, compared with income of $40 million, or 15 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue for the second quarter fell 39 percent to $184.1 million, down from the $303.6 million the company saw in the year-ago quarter.

The ailing Iomega also said that its board of directors will recommend that shareholders vote to implement a 1-for-5 reverse stock split, which they said could boost the share price and attract more institutional investors.

In June, the 20-year-old Iomega hired Werner Heid as president and chief executive, the company's third CEO in two years. Heid took over for Bruce Albertson, who resigned because of disagreements with the company's board of directors.