PARIS, Feb 10, 2011 – Telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent staunched its losses in 2010 after several years of setbacks, with strong profits in the fourth quarter, it said in a statement on Thursday.
The Franco-American firm logged full-year earnings of 15.9 billion euros ($21.7 billion), 5.5 percent higher than the previous year.
Net profit in the fourth quarter hit 340 million euros — "our best profit since the crisis," chief executive Ben Verwaayen told reporters by telephone.
The group recorded an overall net loss of 334 million euros in 2010, down from a loss of 524 million euros the previous year, according to its results statement.
"As we enter into 2011, I am more confident than ever in our ability to transform into a normal company," Verwaayen said in the statement.
Alcatel signed a four-billion-euro deal in November to supply US telecom operator Verizon with a fourth-generation wireless telephone network.
It also signed deals with China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, which Verwaayen said were worth 1.178 billion euros altogether.
Alcatel-Lucent had struggled to find its way after its formation in 2006 in a merger of the French group Alcatel and US-based Lucent Technologies.
