Dallas, Texas 11/14/2013 (Financialstrend) – The ailing communication equipment and networking infrastructure provider Alcatel Lucent SA (ADR) (NYSE:ALU) is probably trying to see some positives from its rival Cisco Systems (CSCO) first quarter fiscal year 2014 results announcement on November 13. The firm reported a 5% dip in its earnings for the 1Q and disclosed that it expected FY14 to be a hard climb and expects to see its earnings dip by 10%. On the back of these unexpected downcast projections from Cisco, many market watchers have predicted that Alcatel too might follow suit.
The France based technology player with a market cap of $9.2 billion had raised capital from the U.S investment circuit through issue of ADR. It operates in three broad segments and has operations spread across the globe. It operates through its more than 25 stand alone subsidiaries and has been struggling to get its act together and post profits for a long time now.
Over the trailing 12 months, the firm has managed to accumulate close to $3.7 billion of net income loss and had posted sales of $19.4 billion in the same period. It has over the past three years attempted to restructure itself on more than one occasion but has failed to carry through its plans. In the latest effort its new CEO is trying to push through major cost cutting measures which include hiving off non core business and reduce its work force substantially.
In the recent past there has been speculation that the firm is looking for suitable buyers who might be able to pour in additional capital and help revive the fortunes of this once performing company with 100’s of patents to its name. Analysts were also speculating that Nokia with its coffers full with the recent sale of its handset business might be eyeing the ailing network communications firm for a takeover bid.
