EToys Closing UK-Based Web Site.

EToys Inc. will close its Web site operated out of the U.K. on Jan. 19 as it tries to reduce losses, according to the Internet toy retailer's Web site. The company is cutting prices by half for all merchandise, the site said.

There was no word from eToys officials on how many people would be fired or if the company's other site in the U.K., Baby Centre, also would be closing.

The Santa Monica-based company, which expanded into the U.K. in October 1999, is cutting costs and seeking investors or a buyer after a disappointing holiday sales season. On Dec. 15, the company said sales in the fiscal third quarter ending Dec. 31 would be $120 million to $130 million, or as much as 50 percent less than the $210 million to $240 million it had forecast. Last year, its stock tumbled 99 percent.