- For the fourth quarter 2006, posts adjusted pro-forma revenues of Euro
4,421 million and operating profit(2) of Euro 21 million
- For the full year 2006, reports adjusted pro-forma revenues of Euro 18,254
million and operating profit of Euro 1,025 million
- As of December 31, 2006, our total cash and marketable securities was Euro
6.7 billion leaving a net cash position of Euro 508 million
- Proposal for a dividend payment of Euro 0.16 at next Shareholders’ Meeting
on
June 1, 2007
Paris, February 9, 2007 - Alcatel-Lucent’s Board of Directors
(Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) reviewed and approved reported results for the
fourth quarter and full year 2006.
EXECUTIVE COMMENTARY
“This is the first quarter that Alcatel-Lucent is reporting results as a
combined company,” stated Patricia Russo, Chief Executive Officer of
Alcatel-Lucent. “While the results for the fourth quarter are clearly
disappointing, the positive long-term benefits of the merger and the growth
potential of Alcatel-Lucent remain as envisioned. Since we began operating as a
combined company on December 1, 2006, we have made progress against our
integration plans, and we expect to increasingly recognize the benefits of our
integration over the course of the year.
“Our newly combined company is focused on supporting the overall
transformation occurring in our industry. This includes the transformation of
networks to all-IP, video and multimedia content to enhance communication
services, broadband mobility as well as high value services,” continued
Patricia Russo.
“We have now finalized Alcatel-Lucent’s product portfolio and aligned it
with these key areas as evidenced by our investments in IMS, 3G mobile
networks, services, next-generation optical, as well as wireless and wireline
broadband access,” added Patricia Russo. “This is a strong portfolio that
we intend to leverage across fixed, mobile, converged and enterprise
opportunities to grow our business and gain market share over time. In
fact, we’ve recently announced contracts with Softbank Mobile in Japan to
deploy a 3G UMTS/HSDPA solution and with Globacom in Nigeria to provide fixed
and mobile networks as well as next generation, IP/MPLS and optical network
solution.”
“Our integration plans are proceeding. We are leveraging the integration of
our two companies to create a more competitive enterprise over the long term,
and enhance our operating model to enable greater efficiencies in our
operations,” said Patricia Russo. “We now believe the combination of our
original synergy plan (Euro 1.4 billion) and additional cost reductions will
enable us to realize a total of Euro 1.7 billion pre-tax cost savings within
three years, with at least Euro 600 million for 2007. These savings will
include among other things, the optimization of our supply chain and services,
the elimination of duplicate resources and product rationalization. We believe
these actions will enhance our competitiveness in this dynamic industry. As a
result, we expect the impact on our global workforce will be about 12,500
positions over three years. These are difficult but necessary decisions,
and we will manage these reductions with care. We are committed to serving our
customers' needs, with a competitive cost structure and effective operating
model. We will maintain the appropriate workforce level to do
that.”
“As we previously stated, the results for the fourth quarter were impacted
by a combination of short-term uncertainty for both our customers and our
people, as well as challenging market conditions, particularly in North
America. While we believe these factors will be mitigated, we expect they will
continue to have a more limited effect on our business in the early months of
the year, leading to some revenue decline in the first quarter 2007.” stated
Patricia Russo. “We are confident that we can resume revenue growth as the year
progresses. Looking forward to the full year 2007, we expect revenues to
increase on a percentage basis at least at the carrier market growth rate of
mid single digits.”
REPORTED RESULTS
In accordance with regulatory reporting requirements, the fourth quarter
2006 reported results include Alcatel stand-alone operations for October and
November 2006, and the combined operations of Alcatel-Lucent for December 2006.
Businesses to be contributed to Thales are presented as discontinued
activities. There were neither capital gains nor cash proceeds from the Thales
transaction recognized during the quarter. Results from Nortel’s UMTS radio
access business are not included as the transaction was completed on December
31, 2006. For the fourth quarter, Alcatel-Lucent’s reported revenues amounted
to Euro 3,871 million and reported operating income(1) was
Euro 102 million, including the impact from purchase price allocation entries
of Euro (226) million. For the quarter, net income (group share) was Euro (615)
million or Euro (0.37) per diluted share (USD (0.48) per ADS), which included
the negative pre-tax impact of Euro (0.48) per diluted share (Euro 802 million)
for restructuring charges and impairment of intangible assets.
In accordance with regulatory reporting requirements, full year 2006
reported results include Alcatel stand-alone operations from January to
November 2006, and combined operations of Alcatel-Lucent for December 2006.
Businesses to be contributed to Thales are presented as discontinued
activities. For the full year 2006, Alcatel-Lucent’s reported revenues
amounted to Euro 12,282 million and reported operating income(1) was
Euro 694 million, including the impact from purchase price allocation entries
of Euro (226) million. For the full year 2006, net income (group share)
was Euro (176) million, or Euro (0.12) per diluted share (USD (0.16) per
ADS), which included the negative pre-tax impact of Euro (0.59) per diluted
share (Euro 848 million) for restructuring charges and impairment of intangible
assets. As of December 31, 2006, Alcatel-Lucent’s net (debt)/cash was Euro 508
million
ADJUSTED PRO-FORMA RESULTS
In order to provide meaningful comparable information, Alcatel-Lucent is
providing adjusted pro-forma financial results, in addition to reported results
for the fourth quarter and full year 2006. Adjusted pro-forma results
include combined operations for Alcatel-Lucent as of January 1, 2006.
Businesses to be contributed to Thales are presented as discontinued
activities. There were neither capital gains nor cash proceeds from the Thales
transaction recognized during the quarter. Results from Nortel’s UMTS radio
access business are not included as the transaction was completed on December
31, 2006. In addition, these results exclude any impact from purchase price
allocation entries.
For the fourth quarter, Alcatel-Lucent’s adjusted pro-forma revenues were
Euro 4,421 million, a decrease of 16% compared with revenue of Euro 5,249
million in the year-ago quarter (a decrease of 12% at constant at Euro/USD
rate) and operating profit(2) was Euro 21 million, compared with an
operating profit of Euro 566 million in the year-ago quarter. For the quarter,
net income (group share) was Euro (618) million, or Euro (0.27) per diluted
share (USD (0.35 per ADS), which included the negative impact of Euro (0.26)
per diluted share (Euro (577) million) for restructuring charges and impairment
of intangible assets.
For the full year 2006 Alcatel-Lucent’s adjusted pro-forma revenue was Euro
18,254 million, a decrease of 2%, compared with revenue of Euro
18,574(3) million for full year 2005, operating profit(2)
was Euro 1,025 million, compared with Euro 1,411(3) million in
full year 2005. For the full year 2006, net income (group share) was Euro
522 million, or Euro 0.23 per diluted share (USD 0.30 per ADS), which included
the negative impact of Euro (0.28) per diluted share (Euro (626) million) for
restructuring charges and asset impairment charges of intangible assets.
The breakdown of revenues per region is as follows : 36% in North America, 15%
in Asia, 26% in Western Europe and 23% rest of the world.
|
Profit & Loss – Adjusted Pro-forma Key Figures
In Euro million except for EPS
|
Fourth Qtr
2006
|
Fourth Qtr
2005
|
Full Year
2006
|
Full Year
2005
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenues
|
4,421
|
5,249
|
18,254
|
18,574
|
|
Gross profit
|
1,409
|
2,012
|
6,745
|
7,358
|
|
Operating profit
|
21
|
566
|
1,025
|
1,411
|
|
Restructuring charges & impairment of intangible assets
|
(577)
|
(55)
|
(626)
|
(70)
|
|
Net income (group share)
|
(618)
|
381
|
522
|
1,674
|
|
EPS diluted (in Euro)
|
(0.27)
|
0.14
|
0.23
|
0.72
|
|
E/ADS* diluted (in USD)
|
(0.35)
|
0.18
|
0.30
|
0.94
|
|
Number of diluted shares (billion)
|
2.251
|
2.376
|
2.267
|
2.379
|
*E/ADS has been calculated using the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York
noon euro/dollar buying rate of USD1.3197 as of December 29, 2006.
FOURTH QUARTER BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS
Note: The following figures are based on preliminary adjusted pro-forma
indications, which are subject to final representation.
|
Segment Breakdown
|
Fourth Qtr
|
Full Year
|
|
In Euro billion
|
2006
|
2006
|
|
(Estimated)
|
|
|
|
Revenues
|
|
|
|
Carriers
|
3.22
|
13.65
|
|
- Wireline
|
1.47
|
5.72
|
|
- Wireless
|
1.24
|
5.79
|
|
- Convergence
|
0.51
|
2.14
|
|
Enterprise
|
0.41
|
1.46
|
|
Services
|
0.74
|
2.79
|
|
Other & Eliminations
|
0.05
|
0.35
|
|
Total
|
4.42
|
18.25
|
Not withstanding difficulties encountered during the fourth quarter, here
are some positive highlights for each business group.
CARRIER BUSINESS
For the fourth quarter 2006, adjusted pro-forma revenue for the carrier
business groups, which was estimated at Euro 3.22 billion.
Wireline
For the fourth quarter 2006, adjusted pro-forma revenue for the wireline
business group was estimated at Euro 1.47 billion.
Key Highlights:
- The transformation towards all IP networks and the sustained increase in
the number of broadband subscribers continued to significantly influence
fixed operators’ investments.
- The access business registered a record quarter with 8.8 million DSL lines
delivered (totaling 30.6 million lines for the full year 2006), with
significant growth in the IP based DSLAM product line.
- The IP routing activity continued its excellent growth above market rate,
solidifying its established #2 position in IP/MPLS. The MS WAN business
continued transitioning to Ethernet, in particular for DSL aggregation.
- The optics business was primarily driven by both metro and long haul
DWDM.
Wireless
For the fourth quarter 2006, adjusted pro-forma revenue for the wireless
business group was estimated at Euro 1.24 billion.
Key Highlights:
- The deployment of higher speed data capabilities for 3G networks continued
to drive mobile operators investment.
- The CDMA business continued its expansion into high data capabilities but
was impacted by a shift in spending by some North American customers
- The GSM infrastructure activity was impacted by a heightened competitive
environment but remained solid in China. One new cost-effective, IP-based base
station controller started to ship.
- Several trials were deployed in the WiMAX Rev e technology in emerging
markets
Convergence
For the fourth quarter 2006, adjusted pro-forma revenue for the convergence
business group was estimated at Euro 0.51 billion.
Key Highlights:
§ The positive momentum
continued in the NGN/IMS activity, with a rapidly growing installed base in
China, North America and Western Europe.
§ In the multicore activity
and for both mobile and fixed operators, the traditional circuit core networks
continued to be replaced by packet or IP-based core networks, which now
accounts for a significant portion of the business. Deployment of maintenance
services and new software releases contributed to optimize the business with
the existing customer base.
§ The deployment of video
services at fixed operators across all regions continued to drive our IPTV
applications business. The payment converged solutions for mobile operators
gained traction, with 220 customers to date.
ENTERPRISE BUSINESS GROUP
For the fourth quarter 2006, adjusted pro-forma revenues for the enterprise
business group were estimated at Euro 0.41 billion.
Key Highlights:
- The voice and IP networking business reported a strong uptake in data and
exceptionally strong performance across all product lines in Europe, Middle
East and Africa. The IP telephony activities continued to benefit from a
balanced customer mix in small, medium and large businesses and gained traction
in Western Europe.
- The leadership position of the contact center activity, Genesys, has been
reinforced as the business continues repositioning from a CTI company to
Dynamic Contact Center Platform company. In particular, in the
voice portal business has contributed to the overall success of the business,
following the two recent acquisitions. Market adoption of Open IP has
helped in this effort, while continued growth in market presence in emerging
economies has also been achieved (China, India, Brazil and Russia).
SERVICES BUSINESS GROUP
For the fourth quarter 2006, adjusted pro-forma revenue for the services
business group was estimated at Euro 0.74 billion.
Key Highlights:
- The services business is positively influenced by the current customers
needs, either carriers or enterprises, who transform their networks to an all
IP infrastructure, require maintenance services on a multi-vendor environment
and require hosted management of some of their services.
- The network integration activity was fueled by the evolution towards
converged services, preparation of large network transformation plans, network
optimization and QoS improvement.
- The professional services activity benefited from large deployments of IPTV
services in North America and from strong OSS/BSS activity.
(1) Operating Income/(Loss) is herein referred to as the income
(loss) from operating activities before restructuring, impairment of
capitalized development costs, and gain (loss) on disposal of consolidated
entities.
(2) Operating Profit is herein referred to as the income (loss)
from operating activities before restructuring, impairment of capitalized
development costs, share-based payment, and gain (loss) on disposal of
consolidated entities.
(3)To be compared with our last set of 2005 pro forma figures
published on November 14, 2006 in the F-3 Form, i.e. pro forma revenues of Euro
18,569 million and pro forma operating profit of Euro 564 million. The
published operating profit in F-3 Form of Euro 564 million includes charges of
Euro (799) million for purchase price allocation.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
The Board of Directors will propose at the Annual Shareholders Meeting on
June 1st, 2007 to pay a dividend of Euro 0.16 to shareholders for 2006.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Alcatel-Lucent will host an audio webcast at 1:00 p.m. Paris time (12:00
p.m. London and 7:00 a.m. New York), which can be accessed athttp://www.alcatel-lucent.com/4q2006.
2007 Upcoming Events / Announcements
May
11
First quarter 2007 earnings announcement
June
1
Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in Paris
August
1
Second quarter 2007 earnings announcement
October
31
Third quarter 2007 earnings announcement
About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that enable
service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, to deliver voice,
data and video communication services to end-users. As a leader in fixed,
mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications, and
services, Alcatel-Lucent offers the end-to-end solutions that enable compelling
communications services for people at home, at work and on the move. With
79,000 employees and operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent is a
local partner with global reach. The company has the most experienced global
services team in the industry, and one of the largest research, technology and
innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry. Alcatel-Lucent
achieved adjusted proforma revenues of Euro 18.3 billion in 2006 and is
incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. [All figures
exclude impact of activities to be transferred to Thales]. For more
information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet:
http://www.alcatel-lucent.com
Alcatel-Lucent Press Contacts
Alcatel-Lucent Investor Relations
|
Pascal Bantegnie
|
Tel: +33 (0)1 40 76 52 20
|
pascal.bantegnie@alcatel-lucent.com
|
|
Maria Alcon
|
Tel: +33 (0)1 40 76 15 17
|
maria.alcon@alcatel-lucent.com
|
|
John DeBono
|
Tel: + 1908-582-7793
|
debono@alcatel-lucent.com
|
SAFE HARBOR FOR FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Except for historical information, all other information in this press
release consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the US
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These forward
looking statements include statements regarding the future financial and
operating results of Alcatel-Lucent as well as the benefits and synergies of
the completed merger transaction, benefits to Alcatel-Lucent from its
improvements in product costs and restructuring efforts, improvements in new
technologies, benefits that will result from strategic partnerships,
acquisitions and divestitures and other statements about Alcatel-Lucent
managements' future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects that are
based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about
Alcatel-Lucent, as well as Alcatel-Lucent's future performance and the
industries in which Alcatel-Lucent operates, in addition to managements'
assumptions. Words such as "expects," "anticipates,"
"targets," "goals," "projects," "intends,"
"plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates,"
variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such
forward-looking statements which are not statements of historical facts. These
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve
certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to assess.
Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is
expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties are based upon a number of important factors including, among
others: our ability to operate effectively in a highly competitive industry
with many participants; our ability to keep pace with technological advances
and correctly identify and invest in the technologies that become commercially
accepted; difficulties and delays in achieving synergies and cost savings;
fluctuations in the telecommunications market; the pricing, cost and other
risks inherent in long-term sales agreements; exposure to the credit risk of
customers; reliance on a limited number of contract manufacturers to supply
products we sell; the social, political and economic risks of our global
operations; the costs and risks associated with pension and postretirement
benefit obligations; the complexity of products sold; changes to existing
regulations or technical standards; existing and future litigation;
difficulties and costs in protecting intellectual property rights and exposure
to infringement claims by others; compliance with environmental, health and
safety laws; whether Alcatel-Lucent can continue to obtain product cost
improvements and to implement cost cutting and restructuring programs and
whether these efforts will achieve their expected benefits, including
improvements in net income, among other benefits; the economic situation in
general (including exchange rate fluctuations) and uncertainties in
Alcatel-Lucent’s customers’ businesses in particular; customer demand for
Alcatel-Lucent’s products and services; control of costs and expenses;
international growth; conditions and growth rates in the telecommunications
industry; the timing of closing and expected benefits from the operations
transferred or to be transferred to Thales and the benefits arising from the
increase in the Company's interest in Thales; and the impact of each of these
factors on sales and income. For a more complete list and description of such
risks and uncertainties, refer to Alcatel-Lucent's Form 20-F for the year ended
December 31, 2005, as amended, as well as other filings by Alcatel-Lucent and
Lucent Technologies Inc. with the US Securities and Exchange Commission
including Lucent's Proxy Statement dated August 7, 2006. Except as required
under the US federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the US
Securities and Exchange Commission, Alcatel-Lucent disclaims any intention or
obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the distribution of
this news release, whether as a result of new information, future events,
developments, changes in assumptions or otherwise.
|