Marconi's Group Sales Rise 5%

Marconi reported its fifth consecutive quarter of positive operating cash flow (before special charges). For the three months ending 31-December-2003, Marconi's Group sales rose 5% to £408 million compared to £389 million in the previous quarter.



Marconi said sales in Europe/Rest of World were driven by growth in Fixed Wireless Access and Value-Added Services. It also noted strong growth in Outside Plant & Power and North American Access sales, which were offset by an expected reduction in sales by the U.S. federal government.



Excluding the North American Access (NAA) division (which is being sold to AFC), Marconi's top ten customers for the quarter were (alphabetical order): AT&T, BT, E-plus (Germany), Metro City Carriers (Germany), O2, Telecom Italia, U.S. federal government, Verizon, Vodafone and Wind (Italy). These customer represented 47% of sales.



Group headcount was reduced to 13,025 at year's end, compared with 14,100 at 30-Sept-2003.



Marconi said it is maintaining a cautious market outlook and expects the current quarter's sales to be flat to slightly up. http://www.marconi.com