Critical Path To Lay Off 175 WorkersCritical Path To Lay Off 175 Workers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)--Struggling E-mail provider Critical Path Inc. said Thursday it will lay off about 30 percent of its workers as part of an effort to reduce its annual expenses by $22 million.

The purge will jettison 175 employees, according to the San Francisco company. Critical Path will rely on contractors to fill 80 of the lost jobs.

By lowering its overhead, Critical Path hopes to end a streak of losses totaling $2.1 billion since its 1997 inception.

During the second half of this year, management believes the company will make money under a measurement that excludes income taxes and certain accounting items, such as depreciation and amortization.

Critical Path didn't project when it will show a profit under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, the government-mandated method for reporting net income and losses.

The company has been trying to rebound from an accounting scandal that resulted in the convictions of four former employees last year.

In another blow, the Nasdaq Stock Market last month notified Critical Path that its stock faces delisting because its shares have been stuck below $1 for too long. Critical Path has scheduled a Jan. 30 hearing before Nasdaq to describe its plans for boosting the stock.