Lucent posts greater-than-expected second quarter loss of $3.7 billion

<br>NEW YORK (AP) _ Lucent Technologies Inc. lost a bigger than expected $3.69 billion in the just-ended quarter as the communications equipment maker was hit hard by the financial meltdown of a customer,

Tuesday, April 24th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Lucent Technologies Inc. lost a bigger than expected $3.69 billion in the just-ended quarter as the communications equipment maker was hit hard by the financial meltdown of a customer, wireless network operator Winstar Communications Inc.

The net loss for the first three months of 2001, Lucent's second fiscal quarter, was equivalent $1.08 per share. It included 15 cents per share from bad loans to Winstar, which filed for bankruptcy last week, and investment losses.

Overall, the loss reflected $2.7 billion in one-time expenses, including 2,000 of the 10,000 job cuts planned under the cost-cutting effort announced earlier this year, Lucent said Tuesday, The $2.7 billion figure was well beyond the the range of $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion Lucent had expected.

Excluding those charges and any financial results from Agere, the optical components and semiconductor business the company is spinning off, the Murray Hill, N.J.-based company posted an operating loss of $1.26 billion, or 37 cents per share.

In the same period a year ago, Lucent posted a net profit of $755 million, or 23 cents. Excluding discontinued operations, the company had an operating loss of $1.31 billion, or 39 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.

Revenues from Lucent's second quarter totaled $5.92 billion, down 18 percent from $7.15 billion in the same period a year ago. Company officials said that revenues actually grew 36 percent if discontinued operations are excluded from the year-ago tally.

Industry analysts had expected Lucent to post a per-share operating loss of 23 cents and revenues of $6 billion for the just-ended quarter, according to a survey by Thomson Financial/First Call.

``As we've said, fiscal year 2001 is a transition and rebuilding year for Lucent,'' Lucent chairman and chief executive Henry Schacht said in a statement.

Lucent said it expects to cut the remaining 8,000 jobs under its restructuring plan by the end of the current quarter.

The results were released before regular trading Tuesday. On Monday, shares of Lucent fell 31 cents to $9.20 on the New York Stock Exchange.