Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Logitech International SA, the biggest maker of computer mice, withdrew its fiscal 2009 financial targets and said it will cut 15 percent of its non-manufacturing jobs because of the deepening global recession.

Logitech will eliminate 500 positions and may reduce its 5,500 factory jobs, Chairman Guerrino De Luca said in an interview today. Logitech will take an unspecified one-time charge in the fourth quarter ending March 31, the Romanel-sur- Morges, Switzerland-based company said in a statement.

The shares slumped as much as 13 percent in Swiss trading. Logitech joins Sony Corp., Royal Philips Electronics NV and Motorola Inc. in announcing job cuts as the earnings outlook for electronics makers deteriorates. Worldwide spending on information-technology products will shrink 4 percent this year as the global economy contracts, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimated last month.

“The situation is really bad,” De Luca said by telephone. “We’re on really shaky grounds with the consumer. The situation is really unprecedented.”

On Oct. 21, Logitech reduced its fiscal 2009 sales and profit forecasts, citing concerns over slowing economic growth. It projected operating income to rise as much as 5 percent on revenue growth of up to 8 percent. The company previously estimated 15 percent expansion in both measures.

Shares Drop

Logitech, which also makes speakers for Apple Inc.’s iPod digital music player, dropped as much as 2.41 Swiss francs to 15.60 francs and traded at 16.88 francs as of 10:19 a.m. in Zurich, giving the company a market value of 3.2 billion francs ($2.9 billion). The stock tumbled 61 percent in 2008, compared with a 35 percent decline in the benchmark Swiss Market Index.

De Luca said today he isn’t expecting a loss in the fiscal third and fourth quarters. He declined to elaborate. The Swiss company is scheduled to report third-quarter profit on Jan. 20.

“We expect the consumer environment to remain very difficult in the short term, especially in the key Christmas holiday season,” Beat Keiser, an analyst with Credit Agricole SA who rates Logitech “underperform,” wrote in a report last month. “Looking at Logitech’s long-term targets, we think the company will fall short on both its sales growth as well as its operating margin targets.”

Savings from the job reductions will be reflected from the fiscal first quarter, Logitech said. The company didn’t provide revised financial targets or specify the magnitude of the restructuring charge. Logitech has more than 9,000 employees, according to its Web site.

“We expect the economic environment to worsen in the coming months,” Chief Executive Officer Gerald Quindlen said in the statement. “We are therefore taking significant actions to align our cost structure with what is likely to be an extended downturn.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Tan in Singapore at atan17@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 6, 2009 04:23 EST