FLS Aerospace, the Danish firm which acquired the TEAM Aer Lingus plant at Dublin Airport in 1998, has reported losses of 401 million Danish krone (€53.8 million) for the first half of the year.

This was almost twice the DKK212 million loss incurred in the previous 12 months before embarking on what its management described as a "drastic turnaround process" last January.

The company plans to reduce its workforce in Dublin by 60 as soon as possible, although its spokeswoman said the plan had not changed since its parent, FLS Industries, reported that cash flows and the first-half operating result throughout the engineering group "were highly unsatisfactory".

FLS's unaudited six-month report said some 350 people would leave its operations in Ireland, Britain, Denmark and Sweden by the end of the year.

"Redundancy payments combined with other restructuring initiatives and non-recurring items have reduced earnings by DKK330 million," the report said.

Restructuring costs in the second half of the year would reach DKK50 million.

Yet the company's spokeswoman said there would be no compulsory redundancies in Dublin.

FLS planned the staff reductions from its current level of 1,800 at Dublin through natural attrition, early retirement and redeployment, she said.

"Nothing has changed in terms of where we were. There's no plans for any additional redundancies."

Stating that she did not know when the current plan might be realised, she said certain staff members had already left the company.

While forecasting a DKK490 million deficit in the current year's trading, FLS Aerospace said it expected to generate surplus before interest and tax in the October-December period.

The company said its order book was worth DKK7.8 billion on June 30th.

"The operating results are what we have expected. We're still working to the same plan to get back into the black in 2001," the spokeswoman said.

The rationalisation plan was introduced by the company's new chief executive, Mr Stephen Henderson, who replaced Mr Steffen Harpoth after his resignation last February due to a "disappointing financial result" in 1999.

FLS Industries issued an effective profit warning in May, stating that "prospects of a substantially improved financial result [at group level] will not be fulfilled".

The group's aerospace operations are considered crucial to its recovery strategy.

FLS acquired TEAM from Aer Lingus for an undisclosed sum, although speculation at the time of the deal suggested the Danish group paid about £25 million (€19.7 million) for the company.

Mr Harpoth was a key figure in the acquisition, although he admitted at the time of his departure that he had taken his "eye off the ball" regarding the company's activities in Britain and Denmark.

The aerospace company re ported revenues of DKK1.67 billion in the first six months. But its gross profit was just DKK2 million, a figure significantly reduced by restructuring costs.

Its parent group's latest statement to the Copenhagen stock exchange said revenues in the first six months were DKK9.17 billion.

Losses after tax and interest were DKK420 million.

It forecast losses after interest and tax of DKK200 million for the year based on projected earnings of DKK19 billion.