Staff at Quanta Capital Holdings Ltd. were yesterday put on notice that their jobs could be on the line, after the company?s business prospects were hit by a ratings downgrade.

Chairman James Ritchie said the company will ?accelerate steps to reduce infrastructure?. And that will include between $9 million and $11 million in savings ?in the very near term? from staff reductions, management told investors on a conference call yesterday morning.

The insurer is making the cost-cutting measures after saying its loss in the fourth quarter could be as high as $45 million. Quanta could shut down parts of its business, or go up on the sales block, after a downgrade to its financial strength rating put business prospects in jeopardy.

Ratings firm A.M. Best downgraded Quanta?s financial strength to ?B++? from ?A-? yesterday, on the heels of its loss announcement.

Spokesperson Sabrena Tufts did not respond to questions from on how many staff the company has, how many of those are based in Bermuda, nor how many job cuts will be made to meet the company?s target of up to $11 million in employee cost savings.

The company previously said it had about 250 staff across operations in Bermuda, the US, Dublin and the UK. The company?s Bermuda office is in Cumberland House, Victoria Street.