Alcatel Posts Profit On Strong Mobile Sales

MANHASSET, N.Y. — France-based communications company Alcatel Corp. posted third-quarter net earnings of $323.2 million on sales of $4.0 billion, up from $236.9 million on sales of $3.7 billion in the year-ago quarter.Alcatel reported a 22.3 percent increase in mobile communications revenue, driven by 2G/3G infrastructure, but private communications revenue declined 3.0 percent. Gross margin was 34.6 percent."Our growth strategy has paid off with strong advances in the third quarter in our carrier business which was up 13 percent year over year and 9 percent sequentially," said Serge Tchuruk, chairman and chief executive of Alcatel. "We were particularly pleased to see our fixed communication revenues start increasing again, as anticipated, reversing a four-year decline."Alcatel expects its full 2005 year revenue to reach the high end of the 5 to 8 percent range, with operating margin around 9 percent.