Economy Hurts Alcatel-Lucent Results

Alcatel-Lucent fell prey to a worsening economy in the first three months of 2008, reporting its fifth straight quarterly loss and projecting a year of flat growth.

The Franco-American equipment maker struggled most as the American dollar weakened and international currencies gained strength.

Alcatel-Lucent on Wednesday reported a 181 million euro, or $282 million loss, compared to a loss of 8 million euros a year earlier.

Sales dropped from 3.88 billion euros to 3.86 billion euros, or $6.02 billion. Executives projected continued declines in revenue; they said a weak dollar and lower operator spending will create a 3 percent decline – from 5 to 2 percent – through 2008.

The company’s shares closed at $6.60 on Wednesday, off from a 2008-high of $7.40.

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