Struggling Internet postage company Stamps.com
employees today — about half its remaining staff — on top of the 240
it laid off last October.
The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company said in a statement that the move is part
of its “continuing effort to streamline operations and achieve profitability.”
“This plan reflects our commitment to getting Stamps.com back to the basics,
operating on the most efficient levels and becoming profitable,” said
Stamps.com Chief Executive Officer Bruce Coleman.
“We will continue to focus on building our core Internet Postage business,
which remains the category leader with more than 300,000 active customers,
and are moving to deploy our iShip service to corporate clients,” he said in
a statement.
“We have dramatically cut our burn rate, restructured our internal
organization and created a more focused marketing effort. This is, in short,
a new start…”
Wall Street so far has not looked kindly on the company’s efforts. Stamps.com
closed yesterday at $3.31. The stock was up six cents to $3.37 in early
trading today. At one time the stock had traded for $98.50. For the nine
months ended last September, the company’s net loss totaled $144.5 million.
The company’s former chief executive officer, John Payne, who had remained
with the company as a director,
resigned from the board last December.
Rival E-Stamp exited the online postage business last November. Stamford,
Conn.-based mailing giant Pitney Bowes is the other
big competitor in this space.