Earnings cut in half

MDS

Health services firm MDS Inc. saw its third- quarter profits chopped in half, one week after its new CEO announced he is heaving the unwieldy company onto the cutting board for a dramatic overhaul that will include at least 500 job cuts. The quarterly earnings of $ 19 million, or 14 cents per diluted share, missed analysts’ expectations of 22 cents per share and compares with a profit of $ 50 million in the same period last year.