Marconi back in the black

Telco equipment maker Marconi has posted its first quarterly profit for three years. The company is bouncing back after watching its share price collapse and restructuring to pay off £4bn in debts.

Marconi made an operating profit of £8m in the fourth quarter ended 31 March 2004 on sales of £394m. But this was not enough to make it a profitable year - Marconi made an operating loss of £62m for the year on sales of £1.6bn.

Mike Parton, chief executive at Marconi, said the results showed the company had turned the corner. He said: "Our fourth quarter results represent a significant milestone in our recovery. We delivered profit, our sales have stabilised and we have cash in the bank. All of our energy is now turned to profitably growing our business."

The company expects the coming financial year to show "low single digit sales growth". ®

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