Alcatel reported a rebound in sales in Q4 2003 in what it described as "encouraging market trends" across its core businesses. The company posted a 29.4% rise in Q4 sales to EUR 3.765 billion compared with Q3 sales of EUR 2.909 billion (this would represent a 32.0% rise at constant exchange rate), but down 14% from EUR 4.377 billion in Q4 2002. Income from operations increased to EUR 332 million over a loss of EUR (606) million year over year. Some highlights of its quarterly report:
- for full year 2003, Alcatel's sales amounted to EUR 12.513 billion, a 21.9% decrease compared to 2002.
- the company shipped 15 million DSL lines in 2003, double the number from 2002. DSL line shipments in Q4 numbered 5.1 million.
- Video over DSL is growing in momentum, with deployments by carriers such as LDcom, Softbank, Monaco Telecom, Sasktel, Fastweb and others.
- For Alcatel's Fixed Communications business, Q4 revenue increased sequentially by 22.8% to EUR 1,647 million. Broadband access continued to benefit from strong demand in all geographical regions. Fixed network solutions also had a strong revenue performance not only driven by gains in intelligent network applications but also Next Generation Network (NGN) solutions. Voice networks as well as optics turned in a good performance compared to the previous quarter due to the normal seasonality of these businesses. The IP service router activity also continued to gain momentum with seven new customers added during the quarter.
- For Alcatel's Mobile Communications business, Q4 revenue increased sequentially by 34.0% to EUR 1,092 million. In addition to the increase in 2/2.5G, deployment in 3G accelerated during the quarter with 1,500 Node Bs deployed during the quarter. 2.9 million mobile phones were delivered during the quarter.
- For Alcatel's Private Communications business, Q4 revenue sequentially by 31.5% to EUR 1,103 million. The IP portion of the PBX business continued to grow.
- Gross margin for the quarter was 33.2%, compared to 36% in Q3.
Company CEO Serge Tchuruk said Alcatel is in the last stage of its restructuring and it now turning back to growth. The company has shifted its strategy from being a communications equipment supplier to being a "communications solutions" provider.
