Alcatel-Lucent profits below expectations

Troubled comms vendor Alcatel-Lucent has booked a small net profit of €43m for the three months to the end of June, on sales of €3.90bn, up 10% year-on-year at constant currency rates.

Although the net profit reversed a loss of close to €200m this time last year, operating losses came in at €108m, substantially below market expectations, raising further questions about the stability of the business, and following a similar weak outlook from rival Juniper, the networking sector as a whole.

The firm, which confirmed last week it was exploring the potential sale of its enterprise business unit, reaffirmed its full-year outlook to grow faster than its addressable market this year.

CEO Ben Verwaayen said the company remained "on track", using the quarterly conference call to attempt to allay fears that it would face a tough second half, predicting that growth in smartphone sales left operators with little choice but to increase their network spending.