Struggling Internet consulting firm Razorfish said it would divest its European operations in a bid to return to profitability.

The New York-based company said it signed a series of purchase agreements for local management to acquire operations in Amsterdam, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich, Oslo, and Stockholm. The deals include the sale of stock in the entities along with the rest of the operations' assets.

No other details were released.

In a statement, Jean-Philippe Maheu, chief executive officer, said "in making this difficult decision, we considered it was important for Razorfish to concentrate its energy and resources on growing its profitable operations located in the United States."

The plan, he added, is to continue to cooperate with its European colleagues when opportunities arise.

The move follows similar closing moves during the third quarter when it closed its London offices and took a $10 million restructuring charge.

The cost contributed mightily to its third quarter net loss of $14.9 million, or 15 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $453,000, with no loss per share when it essentially broke even during the third quarter of 2000.

At the same time, its revenues declined by about 75 percent to $19 million for the period, compared to the $77 million it took in a year ago.

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Shares of Razorfish were trading at around 26 cents on the Nasdaq in early afternoon trading.

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