AlcaLu Breaks Down (in) 2006

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) gave a more detailed glimpse into its 2006 performance today and, in doing so, showed just how the fourth quarter was dragged down by a slump in sales of wireless infrastructure. (See AlcaLu Reports More Numbers.)

The overall numbers are nothing new: When the company announced preliminary fourth quarter 2006 results in January this year, it provided pro forma figures for the whole of 2006 that offered the combined revenues of Alcatel and Lucent as if they had merged at the beginning of last year. Those numbers showed combined 2006 revenues of €18.3 billion ($24.45 billion). (See Alcatel-Lucent Suffers Stock Shock .)

Now, though, the company has provided more precise numbers and has broken down the pro forma revenues on a divisional basis, which you can see here.

In January, Alcatel-Lucent CEO Pat Russo said that "heightened competition in the global wireless market" was one of the reasons why the fourth quarter was so disappointing. The new numbers show that wireless revenues slumped to $1.25 billion from $1.67 billion in the third quarter, while wireline revenues were practically flat at $1.45 billion.

In fact, compared with the third quarter of 2006, only wireless and the Convergence division, which houses the vendor's IMS, applications, IPTV, and OSS products, saw a dip, with Convergence dropping to $495 million from $585 million in the third quarter. The vendor's Enterprise and Services business lines showed the best growth on a quarter-by-quarter basis.

Another number that's been heading in the wrong direction for Alcatel-Lucent is the company's share price. The company has been affected by integration issues this year, with uncertainties surrounding its staff reduction and product consolidation programs, something that analysts believe could impact its performance during this year, though something that most regard as short-term issues only.

As a result the company's market valuation has dipped considerably this year: Alcatel-Lucent's share price has fallen more than 18 percent in 2007. The company currently has a capitalization of €21 billion ($28 billion).

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading