Alcatel-Lucent posts first full year profit since merger

Alcatel-Lucent has recorded its first-ever full-year profit since the merger that created the company in 2006.

The company made a profit of €1.1bn ($1.4bn) for the year, after generating revenues of €15.7bn. In 2010, the company made a loss of €292m and revenues were actually 1.9 per cent higher that year, standing at €15.7bn.

For the fourth-quarter of 2011, revenues were down 12.5 per cent year-on-year to €4.3bn, and the infrastructure vendor published net income of €868m.

“Overall, this concludes a second year of strong improvement in our results, and leads to the first positive full-year net results for Alcatel-Lucent since the merger. We have strengthened our financial flexibility with the Genesys divestment, while taking the strategic decision to realise the full value of our existing and future patent portfolio,” said CEO Ben Verwaayen.

“We were operating in a challenging environment in 2011. Looking ahead, we target, in 2012, additional savings of €200m in fixed costs and €300m in variable costs. We will continue to strengthen our portfolio, drawing upon an innovation pipeline of software assets and breakthroughs in wireless and fixed-line technologies such as lightRadio, 100G coherent technology, IP and vectoring – innovations that enable operators to quickly adapt to the continuing explosion of data and content.

“Although visibility remains limited, our aim for 2012 is to achieve an adjusted operating margin higher than the level reached in 2011, and reach a strong positive net cash position at the end of 2012.”