Alcatel-Lucent Paints Gloomy Outlook After Loss
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The company scrapped its dividend after posting a net loss of 3.5 billion euros ($5.12 billion) for the year, including a huge charge in the 4th quarter to reflect a drop in value of Lucentâs mobile assets.
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Lucent Technologies Inc.  said  on Monday it expects third-quarter earnings to fall due mainly  to slower sales of wireless network equipment in North America,  in news that pushed down its shares.
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(InfoWorld) - Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc.'s plan to form a global communications equipment giant may run into a roadblock next week in a state court in New Jersey. The companies face a showdown Sept. 6 with shareholders who want to postpone Lucent's Sept. 7 shareholder meeting on the merger as they pursue lawsuits to block it. The Superior Court of New Jersey in Union County is set to hear arguments that day on whether to grant an injunction sought in a proposed class-action suit, Resnick vs. Lucent Technologies Inc. On Thursday, the plaintiffs in another suit, filed in New York, agreed to join in on that hearing. Alcatel and Lucent announced in April that they had agreed to merge into a single company, based in Paris, that would have about US$25 billion in annual revenue. Lucent has struggled in the wake of the post-2000 telecom crash, and the deal is also seen as an outgrowth of consolidation among the carriers that buy from big equipment companies such as Alcatel and Lucent. But the merger, now heading for votes by shareholders in both companies, has been criticized and still faces some hurdles. The stocks of both companies have fallen since the deal was announced, and some investment firms have spoken out against the merger. The European Commission and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have both approved the deal, but it still needs approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Both companies have scheduled shareholder meetings on Sept. 7 to vote on the deal. In May, the Asa R. Maley Trust sued Lucent and several of its executives in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging they made a deal that would benefit executives and hurt shareholders. The plaintiffs sought class-action status. "In essence, the proposed Acquisition is the product of a hopelessly flawed process that was designed to ensure the sale of Lucent to one buyer, on terms preferential to Alcatel and to subvert the interests of plaintiff and the other public stockholders of Lucent," the plaintiffs said in their complaint. On Thursday, the attorneys in the Maley case agreed to serve as co-counsel for the plaintiffs in the similar Resnick case and will submit their papers for the Sept. 6 hearing in New Jersey. Lucent is based in Murray Hill, New Jersey. In a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Tuesday, Lucent said the Resnick suit was without merit and it has substantial defenses to the claims. In a response to the Maley case earlier this month, the company told the New York court that the Maley case should be dismissed.
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Alcatel disputed criticism about its planned takeover of Lucent and insisted that the deal would be good for shareholders.
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Alcatel-Lucent  on Friday said it would cut some 12,500 jobs over three years as it reported a dip into net loss for the fourth quarter and forecast a drop in first-quarter revenues.
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Franco-American telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent on Friday posted a loss of about $3.8 billion for the fourth quarter, said it would scrap its 2007 dividend and predicted a rocky 2008.
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Alcatel-Lucent will shed 12,500 jobs or 16 percent of staff, more than expected, as a result of its complex transatlantic merger and it sees tough times ahead with another dip in sales in the first quarter.
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Competition makes for a dreary outlook for the company.
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European equity markets were poised for opening losses on Thursday following a weak session on Wall Street overnight, while caution was likely ahead of results from Nokia, the leading mobile handset maker.
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PARIS  --  Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc. overcame shareholder misgivings to win firm backing Thursday for their $10.7 billion tie-up to create a major global telecommunications equipment maker.
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Newly-merged telecoms firm Alcatel-Lucent is to cut 12,500 jobs in three years as profits are halved.
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Poor performances from the financial sectors left European equity markets lower on Wednesday, but strong results from Spain&#39;s Inditex brightened the retail sector.
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(InfoWorld) - Shareholders of Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc. approved the companies' merger plansÂ Thursday, clearing one of the last hurdles to a mammoth consolidation in the communications equipment business. The merger scraped by at Lucent's special shareholder meeting Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware. It required 50 percent of the vote and received 51.97 percent, according to spokesman John Skalko. Alcatel, meeting in Paris, required a two-thirds vote of shareholders. All resolutions related to the merger were approved by at least 85 percent of the Alcatel shareholders who voted, said Alcatel spokesman Charlie Guyer. The two networking and telecommunications equipment manufacturers announced their intention to merge in April. The combined entity will have annual revenue of around â¬21 billion (US$25 billion), based on the companies' 2005 financial results. Lucent Chief Executive Officer Patricia Russo will become CEO of the combined company, which is to be called Alcatel Lucent, while Alcatel CEO Serge Tchuruk will become a non-executive chairman. Lucent, based in Murray Hill, New Jersey, is incorporated in Delaware. The merged company will be based in Paris, Alcatel's hometown. Alcatel and Lucent expect that the merged entity will make annual cost savings of about â¬1.4 billion, around half of that from job cuts. They plan to cut 9,000 from their combined payroll of 88,000. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved the deal in June, and the European Commission gave its consent in July. The largest remaining obstacle is convincing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. that the deal presents no threat to national security. To allay such fears, Lucent will set up a separate subsidiary run by U.S. citizens to handle sensitive research and development work for the U.S. government, while in France, Alcatel agreed to sell its satellite business to French aerospace electronics group Thales SA for similar reasons. The proposed deal has run into opposition from some investment companies and shareholders. Lucent announced on Friday it had settled two shareholder lawsuits that could have delayed Thursday's vote. Shares of both companies have fallen from their April levels, though they have made some gains in the past few weeks.
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Telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent  could cut more than 20 percent of its world-wide staff, French weekly L'Expansion reported on Tuesday, citing industry sources.
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Lucent Technologies Inc.  on Wednesday posted lower quarterly earnings and disappointing sales despite improved demand for wireless network products, and the telecommunications gear maker's shares fell.
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Telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent said Friday it swung to a loss in the fourth quarter and increased by 3,500 the number of jobs it plans to cut.
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There was pain for Alcatel (NYSE:ALA)-Lucent shareholders as the Franco-American company issued its third outlook warning this year on Thursday.