Alcatel-Lucent Q3 Loss Widens To $269 Million

GREG KELLER

PARIS (AP) — Telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent SA saw its net loss widen in the third quarter as European phone companies, its key customers, cut back on spending.

The company said Friday that losses reached euro182 million ($269 million) in the period. That was more than the euro40 million it lost a year earlier and worse than analysts had forecast.

Shares in Alcatel-Lucent fell 5.8 percent in morning trading to euro2.71.

Headquartered in Paris and with North American operations based in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Alcatel-Lucent is one of the world's biggest suppliers of networking gear and services for wireless and fixed telecommunications operators.

The company said it still expects to be close to break even at an adjusted operating level this year, despite having accumulated euro327 million in losses by that measure through the first three quarters of the year.

Revenue fell 9.3 percent in the third quarter to euro3.7 billion. The drop was driven by double-digit declines in older technologies such as 2G wireless, as operators have slashed invesment in response to the global economic slowdown.