Tellabs Swings To 4Q Loss As Margins Fall; View Cautious

Tellabs Inc. (TLAB) swung to a fourth-quarter loss as revenue rose but margins plunged and charges weighed on the telecommunications-equipment maker's bottom line.

For the current quarter, the company forecast revenue of $315 million to $335 million, below with the Street estimate of $403 million.

Tellabs had seen its results improve of late, helped by rising revenue from both its products and services. The company recently signed an agreement with Barrett Xplore to power Barrett's 4G wireless broadband network throughout Canada.

The company posted a loss of $10.9 million, or 3 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $62.1 million, or 16 cents a share. Excluding items such as acquisition impacts and a writedown, earnings decreased to 2 cents from 9 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were looking for 8 cents.

Revenue increased 5.4% to $410.5 million, near the bottom of the company's October forecast of $410 million to $430 million, which was well below analysts' estimate at the time.

Gross margin dropped to 38% from 45.3%, hurt by a charge for excess purchase commitments.

Revenue in Tellabs' broadband segment, its biggest, climbed 19% but profit fell 24% on the excess purchase commitments charge. Its transport business saw revenue fall 7.4% and profit slide 47%.

Shares closed at $7.04 and were inactive premarket. The stock is down about 13% over the past three months.

-By Matt Jarzemsky and Lee Roberts, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2240; [e-mail]