ENGINEERING group Smiths is to cut another 1,450 jobs, a large number of which will be in the UK.

The group said the cuts, which follow 1,600 job losses announced last year, would be made in the second half of its current financial year, from its worldwide staff of 37,000,

Of the total 3,000 job losses, about 1,200 will be in the UK.

Although Smiths would not say where the cuts would fall geographically, it did confirm that its Unitex polymers business in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, which employs 100 staff, would not be affected.

A spokesman for Smiths said: "The Unitex business is part of our polymer products division and will be unaffected by these latest cuts.

"The majority of the job losses are being made in our aerospace division, which has suffered since the September 11 attacks on the US."

Smiths did, however, confirm the closure of its Basingstoke factory, in Hampshire, with the loss of 80 jobs.

The cuts came as Smiths reported a fall in profits for the last half year to £174m, from £200m.

Keith Butler-Wheelhouse, chief executive, said: "This was an exceptionally tough six months for many companies."

He said the group had been focusing on disposals and restructuring in order to return to growth as the economic cycle starts to recover.

He said: "Our defence business is already growing strongly and recent acquisitions will help medical make a bigger contribution.

"We are now more confident about the outlook for the second half of the year."

Finance director Alan Thomson said the group had between 50 and 60 sites around the country and the cuts would be spread pretty broadly, but would principally be in aerospace and industrial sealings.

He also said the group was announcing a contract with Boeing, which amounted to the largest value per plane it had ever reached - equating to £2m of product per plane.

Smiths' aerospace division makes products such as the screens and software that go in cockpits, as well as fuel management equipment.

The Boeing contract will see it supply refuelling systems for tanker aircraft and could generate more than £714m in sales for Smiths.

Union leaders fear most of the job cuts will be at Smiths' factories, in Cheltenham, Southampton, and Basingstoke.

Sir Ken Jackson, general secretary of Amicus, said: "We will be talking with the company to see if any of the workers facing redundancy can be transferred to the military side, and we will be pushing for any job losses to be voluntary."

Bottom-line pre-tax profits, which include large restructuring costs last year, rose to £123m from £97m. Sales were £1.49bn, against £1.53bn.