Restructuring could cost Novell up to $45 million

Novell Inc., which sells networking software and computer-consulting services, will incur as much as $45 million in restructuring costs this year, mostly because of severance costs related to job cuts.

Novell didn't specify the size of the cuts in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and company spokesman Bruce Lowry declined to say in a telephone interview.

The company in December said it would reduce jobs, move research to countries with low-cost labor and sell more products over the phone and Internet in a campaign to boost operating margins to 5 percent to 7 percent by the end of this year from 1 percent.

Chief Financial Officer Dana Russell at the time estimated the changes would cost $20 million to $25 million. Novell, based in Waltham, Mass., reports earnings for its fiscal first quarter today.

About one-third of Novell's work force is in Provo.