Stock Watch: WebMD Jumps on Restructuring

WebMD Corp. (Nasdaq: HLTH) rose 2 3/4 to 14 Thursday after the company, which links health insurers, doctors and pharmacies over the Internet, announced a restructuring plan designed to save $250 million per year.

As part of the restructuring, Atlanta-based WebMD said it will cut about 1,100 jobs by the end of calendar 2001, and take a charge of $35 million to $45 million in the quarter ending September 30th, as well as additional charges in the future.

The restructuring consolidates the operations of recently acquired companies Envoy, Medical Manager, CareInsite and OnHealth.

WebMD also said it will sell its plastics and filtration technologies subsidiaries, and has had "indications of interest from several potential buyers."

"The focus of our integration process is to create a streamlined organization with a unified set of goals and objectives," said President Marv Rich.