Lucent Technologies posted its first quarterly net profit in three years today, helped by continued cost cuts and a slight upswing in sales since the spring.
In the fourth quarter ended September 30th, the company earned $99 million, or 2 cents a share, compared with a loss of $254 million, or 7 cents, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time gains and losses, Lucent broke even on a per-share basis. It was expected to lose 4 cents, according to the consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Sales rose 3 per cent to $2.03 billion from $1.96 billion in the prior quarter. A year ago, Lucent generated $2.28 billion in revenue.
"It feels great to post a profitable quarter with positive operating cash flow," said Lucent chief executive Ms Patricia Russo. She said the company's vast restructuring over the past few years, which lowered expenses by about $5.6 billion annually, is "essentially completed."
Now, the company is focused on expanding into other new markets such as services, government contracts and outside the US, she said. Looking ahead, Lucent declined to provide a financial forecast, but it did say it expects to experience some "ups and downs" in its effort to sustain profitability over the coming quarters.
In the fourth quarter, Lucent said its operating profit margin rose to 43 per cent from 29 per cent.
AFP