Dublin software firm Trintech said yesterday it would shed about 50 jobs to reduce costs further as it pushed back its forecast of the firm's return to profit. Trintech's operations in the UK and US are expected to bear the brunt of job losses but the firm has not ruled out redundancies at its Irish centre.

Mr Cyril McGuire, executive chairman at Trintech, also confirmed last night the firm would not break even until the first quarter 2002. Previously Trintech had guided that it would would break even this quarter. Mr McGuire said the company was still operating in a difficult trading environment and would continue to reduce its costs base to achieve profit next year.

Trintech, which develops software to enable secure payments over the Internet, aims to increase annual cost savings to $10 million, from the current level of $6 million achieved during its current restructuring plan, according to Mr McGuire.

The company's third-quarter results published yesterday show the company has already reduced its headcount to 549, down from 584 in the second quarter.

Trintech reported revenues of $17.4 million for the quarter. This was in line with the firm's reduced estimates but well below previous guidance of $19-21 million. For the present quarter Trintech has told analysts it should generate revenues of between $17-19 million.

Mr Paul Phelan, technology analyst with Davy Stockbrokers, said the results had some encouraging signs but the concern was now on revenue growth.