Lucent Technologies Inc. on Wednesday said it posted its first annual profit since fiscal year 2000.
The telecommunications equipment maker reported net income of $1.14 billion for fiscal year 2004, compared to a loss of $770 million last year. In the fourth quarter, the Murray Hill, N.J., company posted net income of $348 million, compared to earnings of $99 million in the year-ago quarter.
Annual revenue rose to $9.05 billion, a 7 percent increase from last year. In the fourth quarter, Lucent reported revenue of $2.4 billion, compared to $2.03 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2003.
“In the past year, Lucent has announced more than 100 customer wins in 35 countries,” Lucent Chairman and CEO Patricia Russo said in a statement. “In addition, we also announced 18 new products, 10 new technology partnerships and one acquisition to enhance our offers for converged networks.”
Lucent CFO Frank D’Amelio said the company expects annual revenue for fiscal year 2005 to increase on a percentage basis in the mid-single digits. Lucent said it believes that will match or exceed the industry growth rate.
For three consecutive years, Lucent reported losses as the telecommunications industry faced sluggish demand, cutthroat competition and extraordinary debt following the investment surge of the late 1990s. In fiscal year 2001, Lucent reported a net loss of $16.2 billion, compared to net income of $1.2 billion the previous year.
