PARIS – Alcatel profit drops 8% on stiffer competition
Alcatel on Thursday posted an 8 percent drop in second-quarter net profit as it struggled with deteriorating margins in the competitive wireless infrastructure business.
The French telecommunications equipment vendor, which is buying its former U.S. competitor Lucent, also predicted that operating profit would remain little-changed in the third quarter from the €263 million, or $334 million, posted in the second quarter.
Net profit contracted to €180 million in the second quarter from €196 million a year earlier. Profit was lifted by a gain of €12 million related to the sale of fixed assets. Sales rose 7.6 percent to €3.38 billion
Margins across the industry are being hit by intense price competition, particularly from Chinese vendors.
Fuente: International Herald Tribune
