MURRAY HILL, N.J.-Lucent Technologies Inc. reported net income of $374 million, or 8 cents per share, in its fourth quarter, up slightly from the previous quarter when Lucent reported net income of $372 million, or 7 cents per share.
The results contrast wildly with the company’s year-ago fourth-quarter results, when Lucent reported net income of $1.21 billion, or 23 cents per share. The company said the year-ago performance included a gain of $1 billion, or 19 cents per share, from an income-tax benefit.
For the fiscal year, Lucent’s net income was $1.19 billion, or 24 cents per share, down about 70 percent from the year-ago net income of $2.01 billion, or 42 cents per share.
Lucent reported revenues of $2.43 billion for the fourth quarter, up 1 percent from $2.4 billion in the year ago fourth quarter. For the year, Lucent reported revenues of $9.44 billion, a 4 percent increase compared with fiscal 2004’s revenues of $9.05 billion.
The company said sales of networking products rose 6 percent, while wireless revenue fell 7 percent.
Lucent said it expects its fiscal 2006 sales to grow at about the same rate the communications-equipment market is growing, in the mid-single digits.
“Lucent delivered another solid performance in fiscal 2005,” said Patricia Russo, chairman and chief executive of Lucent. “We posted our second consecutive year of profitability, grew our revenues 4.4 percent and have firmly established ourselves as a leader in the race for next-generation networks based on the IMS architecture.
Lucent’s gross margin continued to rise, from 41 percent of gross revenues in the year ago quarter, to 46 percent in the fourth quarter. For the year, Lucent’s gross margin was 44 percent, up from 42 percent.
The company’s stock was trading down 5 percent at $2.95 per share after the news.
