Lucent Reports $104 Million Loss

Lucent Technologies on Tuesday reported a net loss of $104 million, or 2 cents per share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2006, which ended Dec. 31, 2005. That compares with net income of $372 million, or 7 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005, and net income of $174 million, or 4 cents per share, during the same quarter a year previously.

Lucent said the first quarter’s loss included a charge of $278 million, or about 6 cents per share, for a bankruptcy court judgment related to litigation between Lucent and the trustee for Winstar Communications. Lucent is appealing the judgment in U.S. District Court.

The equipment maker said it had revenue of $2.05 billion in the quarter, a decrease of 16 percent sequentially and a drop of 12 percent from the year-ago quarter. The company’s revenue was $2.43 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005 and $2.34 billion in the year-ago quarter.

“This quarter, despite the decline in revenue, we maintained a solid gross margin performance due to our continued focus on simplifying our operations and diligently managing our cost structure,” said Lucent Technologies Chairman and CEO Patricia Russo in a news release. “Based on the review of our expectations for fiscal 2006 and ongoing interactions with our customers, we are confident that our revenue performance will be much stronger for the remainder of the year."

The struggling company is looking to IMS contracts and investments in 3G mobile networks, services and other applications to help it boost its earnings.

Lucent Technologies    www.lucent.com

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