Travelusacc Discussion Threads

[maywillow] 30/10/2003 08:48

(Updating with chairman quote, analyst forecast, sector breakdown)
PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel said it expects to break even at the net level in the
fourth quarter before goodwill amortization after its third quarter net loss
narrowed to 284 mln eur from 1.352 bln a year earlier.
Analysts polled by AFX News had forecast a net loss in the range of 248-453
mln eur.
For the full year, Alcatel said it expects to exceed its breakeven target
for operating profit.
"Operating performance continued to be strong in broadband access, in mobile
networks, and in the rail communication and control business," said Alcatel
chairman and chief executive officer Serge Tchuruk in a statement.
The company gave no precise guidance for the net result, but said that over
the full year its published net loss should be roughly equivalent to goodwill
and charges added together.
Alcatel said it swung into a profit of 160 mln eur at the operating level in
the third quarter from a loss of 227 mln a year earlier and that it expects to
beat its own guidance for operating profit over the full year.
Fourth quarter sales are expected to jump 20 pct from the third quarter.
By segment, fixed-line communications operating profit was 66 mln eur in the
third quarter compared to a loss of 248 mln eur a year earlier.
In the mobile communications division, operating profit was 79 mln eur, up
from a profit of 50 mln eur a year earlier.
Alcatel's private communication unit reported an operating profit of 55 mln
eur in the quarter, up from 35 mln eur a year earlier.
[e-mail]
mrg/lwl/cw

[maywillow] 30/10/2003 08:34

Correcting reference to net figure in first paragraph to breakeven as in
headline)
PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel said it is confident it will break even at the net
level in the fourth quarter before goodwill amortization after its third quarter
net loss narrowed to 284 mln eur from 1.352 bln a year earlier.
It gave no precise guidance for the net result, but said that over the full
year its published net loss should be roughly equivalent to goodwill and charges
added together.
It said third quarter operating profit was 160 mln eur compared to a loss of
227 mln last time and that it expects to beat its own guidance for operating
profit over the full year.
Fourth quarter sales are expected to jump 20 pct from the third quarter.
[e-mail]
mrg/jms/cw

[waldron] 30/10/2003 07:31

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel said it is confident it will make a net profit before
goodwill amortization in the fourth quarter after its third quarter net loss
narrowed to 284 mln eur from 1.352 bln a year earlier.
It gave no precise guidance for net profit, but said that, over the full
year, its published net loss should be roughly equivalent to goodwill and
charges added together.
It said third quarter operating profit was 160 mln eur compared to a
negative 227 mln last time and that it expects to beat its own guidance for
operating profit over the full year.
Fourth quarter sales are expected to jump 20 pct from third quarter.
[e-mail]
mrg/jms

[maywillow] 24/10/2003 11:42

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel declined to comment on a report in French daily La
Tribune that it may sell its fiber optics business to Nexans for 200 mln eur.
"We have no comment to give other than everybody talks to everybody," a
spokeswoman for Alcatel said.
Earlier, La Tribune reported that Alcatel, which holds 15 pct of Nexans'
capital, may increase its holding in Nexans after the transaction.
[e-mail]
lwl/jlw

[maywillow] 23/10/2003 11:50

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel SA said it has won a "multi-million" euro order to
supply the Comores' SNPT national telecoms operator to supply GSM mobile network
equipment.
Alcatel will provide its Evolium infrastructure package, including base
stations and mobile switching centers.
[e-mail]
js/rf

[maywillow] 23/10/2003 09:32

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel declined to comment on a newswire report that the
company plans to divest its mobile handset operations, a company spokeswoman
said.
She did note, however, that Alcatel said in July that its mobile handset
operations were essential to the company's development, and that chief executive
Serge Tchuruk reiterated the importance of mobile handsets at a conference in
September.
Alcatel last year outsourced much of its handset production to Asia.
Francois Duhen, analyst at CIC Securities in Paris, said he is not convinced
that Alcatel needs to keep the mobile handset business in order to identify
client needs.
"This divestment would be favourable, since the group would pursue its
efforts to refocus on operations where it has better growth and profitability
prospects," Duhen said in a research note released today.
"In the absence of any buyer, it is more likely that Alcatel will end up
closing these activities, which have already largely been outsourced, and
nonetheless remain at best only slightly profitable," he added.
Alcatel does not provide a breakdown of mobile handset earnings, which are
part of its mobile communications division.
[e-mail]
js/cw

[maywillow] 21/10/2003 15:17

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel said it and Swiss telecom services group Ascom signed
a joint venture agreement for wireless communications in the workplace.
No financial details were disclosed.
Under the deal, Ascom digital handsets will be offered alongside Alcatel
terminals to operate on networks supplied by Alcatel.
Ascom last month denied it was planning to close its French operations.
[e-mail]
mrg/bam

[maywillow] 21/10/2003 13:43

PARIS (AFX) - European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co unit Astrium said it
has won a contract from Arabsat to build two satellites intended to provide
communications services in the Middle East, confirming a report in Lettre de
l'Expansion newsletter to this effect from earlier this month.
No financial details were given but the company said the satellites are due
to be put in service from 2006.
Alcatel said separately that its Alcatel Space unit has been selected to
install equipment for both satellites.
[e-mail]
dl/lam

[maywillow] 20/10/2003 09:28

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel SA said it has signed an agreement to sell its Saft
industrial and specialty batteries division to European private equity firm
Doughty Hanson, for 390 mln eur.
"For Alcatel, this agreement is an additional step in focusing on its core
business,the development and deployment of telecommunications systems and
services," the company said.
Investors had been speculating for several weeks that a divestment of Saft
was imminent.
The deal should be completed within 3 months, pending regulatory approval.
Saft had sales of 550 mln eur in 2002, and employs about 4,000 people in 8
countries.
[e-mail]
js/hjp

[grupo guitarlumber] 17/10/2003 09:24

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel SA said it has won a 6 mln usd order from Saudi
Arabia's Saudi Telecom for the supply of asymmetrical digital subscriber line
(ADSL) network equipment.
Alcatel will provide its 7300 advanced services access manager and the
Alcatel 5620 network manager products, allowing high-speed internet access in 38
locations in Saudi Arabia.
[e-mail]
js/lam

[maywillow] 14/10/2003 14:57

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel SA said it has won two contracts from Hungarian
Railways, with a total value of over 22 mln eur.
For the first contract, Alcatel will supply its 6131 LockTrac electronic
train routing system on the Budapest-Cegled-Szolnok line, and a central traffic
control system.
The second contract will see Alcatel install its 6413 AITrac train control
system on 17 Hungarian Railway locomotives, which serve the rail section between
Budapest and the Austrian border.
[e-mail]
js/jlw

[waldron] 13/10/2003 20:46

So we finish the day at 11.61 euros

[ariane] 12/10/2003 15:00

Alcatel



Support

10.15
8.50
7.50
7.10

Resistence

12.00
12.70
14.40
16.50

[maywillow] 10/10/2003 22:16

Marked down by 45%

[maywillow] 10/10/2003 08:01

'Alcatel' Startrip Enterprise.

[waldron] 06/10/2003 09:00

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel has selected two bidders for its Saft industrial
batteries business and expects to raise around 700 mln eur, La Tribune reportd,
citing sources close to the matter.
The paper said Morgan Stanley Private Equity and Doughty Hanson may be the
bidders.
[e-mail]
mrg/jlw

[maywillow] 03/10/2003 18:48

PARIS (AFX) - Thales SA chief executive Denis Ranque denied rumours of an
imminent shake-up of the group's shareholding structure, saying neither the
state nor Alcatel has expressed an interest in selling their stakes soon.
"The rumours surrounding Thales are not justified," Ranque said in an
interview with the Journal des Finances magazine, to be published tomorrow.
"I think that it's up to each of our shareholders to make their own
decisions but, for the moment, neither Alcatel, nor the state has shown any
interest in seeing their stakes change in the short term," he said.
Alcatel holds a 9.5 pct stake in Thales and the French state has 31.8 pct.
Dassault Aviation holds a 5.9 pct stake, while Thales holds 5.6 pct of its own
shares as treasury stock. The remainder, 47.4 pct, is traded on the stock
market.
Ranque has stated in the past that he eventually hopes to see the French
government divest its stake.
He reiterated in the Journal des Finances interview that "Thales needs
shareholders, like any company, but it is not vital to have support from
industrial partners" as shareholders.
"I bet that the evolution of Thales' shareholding structure will be
surprising. The best things are prepared in secret," he added.
Ranque also repeated his aim of developing its naval activities, but refused
to comment directly on Thales' interest in the potential acquisition of the
German shipyard Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG (HDW), owned by Bank One Corp
unit One Equity Partners.
"We do not need to own a shipyard to be a big player in the naval business,"
he said. "The essential thing is to avoid creating a monopolistic structure,
which would exclude us from certain contracts and keep us from remaining a major
player in this market."
Earlier this week, Thales's Francois Lureau, director of the group's Defence
unit, said the company is in talks with France's state-owned Direction des
Constructions Navales (DCN) to link the companies' naval activities.
[e-mail]
js/jsa

[waldron] 03/10/2003 06:56

Another kind of Trip

[maywillow] 02/10/2003 08:29

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel said it won a 450 mln eur signalling contract from
Tube Lines, the company charged with the job of modernising and maintaining part
of the London Underground.
The seven and a half year contract involves installations on the Jubilee
Line and Northern Line, with an option for work on the Piccadilly Line starting
in 2005.
Design work for the two lines will begin immediately with installation seen
completed in 2009 for the Jubilee Line and by 2011 for the Northern Line,
Alcatel said.
[e-mail]
dl/jc

[ariane] 29/9/2003 11:37

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel SA said its Alcatel Space unit sold Mobicom -- a
European mobile satellite data communications systems and service provider -- to
Qualcomm Inc.
Alcatel did not disclose financial terms.
[e-mail]
sr/wf