Avaya Tops Estimate

Avaya (AV Quote) said it earned 25 cents a share, excluding certain items, from ongoing operations in its fiscal second quarter ended March 31, topping analysts' expectations.

According to Thomson Financial/First Call, analysts expected the company would earn 23 cents a share. The Basking Ridge, N.J.-based Lucent (LU Quote) spinoff earned 13 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue rose 1.1% to $1.85 billion from $1.83 billion.

"Despite the slowing U.S. economy, Avaya continues to focus on the enterprise market and deliver on our plan to grow net income and revenues," Don Peterson, president and CEO, said in a statement. "In this quarter's results, we're pleased that with steady overall revenues compared to the year ago quarter, we were able to show significant revenue growth in multi-service networking, connectivity solutions, messaging, services and sales outside the United States." ...