Telecom-maker Ciena Reports Wider Loss

By Chelsey Dulaney 

Telecom-equipment maker Ciena Corp. posted a wider loss and disappointing revenue in its January quarter, weighed by foreign exchange and the timing of orders.

Still, profit excluding special items topped Wall Street expectations.

Higher demand in the optical-gear market has been helping the maker of fiber-optic networking equipment improve its revenue in recent periods. Ciena has also upgraded and diversified its offerings while broadening its base of customers.

Recent quarters, however, have shown signs of weakness. In December, the company posted a surprise fourth-quarter loss as revenue growth in its biggest network segment was unable to offset expected hits from a supplier agreement with AT&T Inc.

For the quarter ended Jan. 31, Ciena's loss widened to $18.8 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with a loss of $15.9 million, or 15 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding special items, per-share earnings fell to 12 cents from 13 cents a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had called for three cents a share in earnings.

Revenue ticked down about 1% to $529.2 million, missing the company guidance for $540 to $570 million in revenue.

Converged packet optical revenue, Ciena's biggest top-line contributor, improved slightly to $336.6 million from $333.4 million a year earlier. Software and services revenue grew 6.3% to $115.3 million, while optical transport revenue fell to $22.3 million from $40.1 million a year earlier.

For the current quarter, Ciena expects revenue of $585 million to $615 million, in-line with analysts' expectations for $597 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at [e-mail]

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