Alcatel turns first profit in three years

Alcatel reported its first quarterly profit since 2001, ringing up $159 million in net income for the first quarter. On a per-share basis, the company reported 10 cents, compared to analysts’ expectations of 8 cents EPS.

Overall revenue, however, declined in the quarter 11.5% in large part due to softness in the optical market and a large circuit switch sale that skewed numbers from the previous quarter. In the access market, where Alcatel is the major supplier to the RBOCs, the company said a total of 5.5 million DSL lines were delivered during the quarter.

Going forward, the company is predicting high single-digit growth this year.

"After years of steep decline we see stabilization," Serge Tchuruk, chairman and CEO of Alcatel said during a morning conference call with analysts. "We believe this is the beginning of a trend."