Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2000/01/21/lucent_posts_23_per_cent/

Lucent posts 23 per cent profit plunge

Couldn't ship enough fibre-optic kit

By Tony Smith

Posted in On-Prem, 21st January 2000 12:14 GMT

A disappointed Lucent yesterday posted a 23 per cent fall in profitability yesterday when it announced the results of its first quarter of fiscal 2000. The comms company said it made $1.25 billion during the three months to 31 December 1999, though after one-off items, that figure falls to $1.18 billion. This time last year, it posted an income before charges of $1.52 billion. Revenues for the quarter totalled $9.9 billion, up on Q1 1999's $9.8 billion. And the quarter proved to be the three-year-old company's second best ever for income and revenue. Lucent blamed the downturn on weak software revenues, delays in customers' network roll-outs and the company's own inability to meet demand for high-performance fibre-optic equipment. The company's chairman and CEO, Richard McGinn, said he expected to have fixed its manufacturing and shipment problems by the end of the current quarter. ®