Alcatel-Lucent sees better days ahead after reporting poor second quarter
ALCATEL-Lucent expects to burn less cash and improve margins in the second half after reporting deeper quarterly losses, hit by telecoms operators’ cuts in capital spending, the group said yesterday.
The French-American telecoms equipment group also said it was monitoring the market to issue convertible bonds but pledged to steer clear of any deal too dilutive for shareholders. The world’s biggest provider of fixed telecoms equipment said it saw 2009 as another transition year — its third since its merger — and aimed to be “moderately” profitable in 2010.
When Alcatel of France merged with US-based Lucent in December 2006, the group took a long time to harmonise its product portfolio.
This prompted operators to delay their investments until they knew which technology the group would support or they chose to do business with some of its rivals.
In 2008 and this year the fragile newly-formed group was hit hard by the global slowdown in telecoms gear spending. It has achieved 35 per cent of its cost savings targets for the year.