|
Lucent clears record profit
|
 |
January 20, 1998: 1:55 p.m. ET
Earnings soar 31 % to $1.124 billion on 'solid' 10 % revenue growth
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Shares of Lucent Technologies shot up 6.6 percent in midday trading Tuesday as investors answered the call of record first-quarter earnings by the telecommunications equipment maker.
Lucent stock rose 5 points to 80-7/16 in active trading after the company posted earnings for the fiscal first quarter of 1998, ended Dec. 31, that bested already optimistic Wall Street estimates.
Earnings increased 31 percent to an all-time high of $1.124 billion, or $1.72 per share, topping the Wall Street consensus estimate of $1.52 per share. It also was a substantial spike from $859 million, or $1.35 per share, in the comparable period a year ago.
The increase excluded a one-time charge associated with Lucent's December acquisition of Livingstone Enterprises Inc. and a one-time gain tied to the company's sale in October of its Advanced Technology Business.
Adjusted for these transactions, Lucent's first-quarter net income was $792 million, or $1.21 per share.
Lucent reported revenues in the first quarter of $8.7 billion, a 16 percent increase on its quarter-to-quarter operations, and a 10 percent hike over the $7.9 billion in the comparable period a year ago.
Richard McGinn, who succeeded Henry Schact as Lucent's chief executive officer last October, said the earnings report reflects "solid operational growth" and "successful efforts to manage costs."
"During this quarter, we restructured our business to take advantage of the hottest growth opportunities," he said. McGinn cited the purchase of Livingstone Enterprises in the data-networking area and preliminary moves towards acquiring Prominet Corp.
The report capped what analysts viewed as a phenomenal run of successes for Lucent, the former Bell Labs, since its spin-off from AT&T in 1996.
Last July, the company acquired Octel Communications, a messages servicing company, for $1.8 billion. A month earlier, it had merged its consumer communications products unit with Philip Electronics.
Analysts said that while Lucent appeared to be on a roll, consistently taking Wall Street off-guard, the industry is too fluid to safely predict any longer-term trends.
"We're in new territory here," said Chuck Hill, a researcher with First Call, citing the roiling Asian markets as a potential hindrance on earnings.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
