Motorola tries to get bad news behind it

Motorola Inc. expects to record a total pretax charge of $122 million in the third quarter from restructuring actions, the telecommunications-equipment company said. Of the charge, $83 million is for severance costs for 1,000 employees, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Most of the affected employees are in Germany. The $39 million is for fixed-asset impairments, Motorola said. The $122 million charge is in addition to the $221 million in charges the Schaumburg, Ill., company took in the first half, representing severance costs for about 4,100 employees.

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