The vendor today announced its fourth-quarter and full-year 2010 financials that showed across-the-board improvements. In addition, the company expects to grow faster than the market in 2011 and increase its operating profit margins. Investors liked what they saw, as AlcaLu's stock leapt by 11.4 percent on the Paris bourse to €2.97.
Fourth-quarter revenues grew by 19.3 percent compared with a year earlier to €4.86 billion (US$6.63 billion), while full-year revenues increased by 5.5 percent to almost €16 billion ($21.8 billion), confirming AlcaLu's place as the third-largest telecom systems vendor by revenues. (See Huawei Annual Revenues Hit $28B.)
Its disappointing start to the year, though, meant AlcaLu still reported an operating loss and net loss for the full year. (See AlcaLu Feels the Squeeze in Q1.)
Table 1: Alcatel-Lucent Q4 2010
All figures in � millions | Q4 2009 | Q4 2010 | YoY change |
Revenues | 3,967 | 4,862 | 22.6% |
Operating income | 140 | 304 | 117% |
Net income | 95 | 352 | 271% |
Table 2: Alcatel-Lucent Full Year 2010
All figures in � millions | 2009 | 2010 | YoY change |
Revenues | 15,157 | 15,996 | 5.5% |
Operating loss | -692 | -309 | 55.3% |
Net income | -504 | -292 | 42.1% |
Looking ahead, CEO Ben Verwaayen noted that he is "more confident than ever in our ability to transform into a normal company" (i.e. one with growth and profits), and noted that for 2011, "we feel confident to grow faster than our addressable market and aim at a significant increase in profitability with an adjusted operating margin above 5% of 2011 sales."
In the fourth quarter, all divisions within the networks group reported year-on-year sales increases, with IP revenues reaching €508 million ($692 million), a near 60 percent increase compared with €317 million ($432 million) a year earlier. AlcaLu noted that ongoing IP transformation projects, the migration to packet backhaul, and the first deployments of its 100Gbit/s Ethernet cards (deployed by eight operators) contributed to that growth.
The vendor also cited growth in wireless (including a 56 percent increase in 3G revenues), fixed access (GPON, IP DSLAM), optical transport equipment and applications. Services revenues increased by 10.7 percent to €1.14 billion ($1.55 billion).
Why this matters
Since he took over, Verwaayen has been on a mission to turn the company around -- to engineer a return to "normality" as he calls it -- and he appears to have made significant progress in 2010.
That's important not only for AlcaLu, its partners and its investors, but for the rest of the sector too, as, along with the end-of-2010 upticks at Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) and Nokia Networks , it hints at a more stable telecom technology and services sector that could deliver growth this year. (See Signs of Growth at NSN and Ericsson Q4 Sales Surge, Margins Shrink .)
For more
AlcaLu has been re-asserting itself in some key technology sectors in the past year, most notably in recent days in the wireless infrastructure market:
- AlcaLu: We're Killing the Base Station
- Kazakhtelecom Tests 100G With AlcaLu
- KT Deploys AlcaLu's IP Gear
- AlcaLu Pins Its Hopes on LTE TDD in India
- AlcaLu Takes On Acme With SBC Launch
- AlcaLu Boasts 10G GPON Availability
- AlcaLu's LTE Giant
- BBWF 2010: Ghost in the Machine?
- Analyst: AlcaLu's 100G Game-Changer
- Verizon Tests 100G With AlcaLu
I am quite pleasantly surprised. Kudos Lucatel.
Now since Ben Verwaayen was around LU during its channel stuffing days, I would go searching to make sure this isn't just financial chicanery. But I'm just a cynic.