Mike, as in the past analysts concentrate on operating income
in Euro which come higher.Average amount of outstanding shares wee 1.18 B vs. 1.08 in Q3, and analysts based its est. on 1.08.
Also ALA took charge for GlobStar, which reduced eps.
This eps on SI or Yahoo is done by 4 analysts were ALA is followed by over 25, including Europe
Below are expactation for ALA
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Alcatel Fourth-Quarter Profit Seen Rising 54%:
Earnings
Outlook
By Jad Mouawad
Paris, Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The following is the
outlook for Alcatel SA, Europe's second-biggest
phone-equipment maker, which reports full-year
earnings on Jan. 31.
Expected Earnings:
Alcatel is expected to report fourth-quarter net
income rose 54 percent to 520 million euros
($480 million), or 0.51 euro per share, from 338
million euros, or 0.36 euro, in the year-earlier
period, according to the average estimate of five
analysts polled by Bloomberg.
Operating profit is seen rising 28 percent to 857
million euros. Sales in the quarter are expected
to grow 21 percent to 9.28 billion euros.
Time:
The company will report earnings before the beginning
of French trading on Wednesday.
Behind the Numbers:
Slowing spending by telecommunication companies is
hurting equipment makers like JDS
Uniphase Corp., the world's biggest maker of parts
used in fiber optics equipment, and Lucent
Technologies Inc.
This week, Lucent said it was cutting 16,000 jobs and
taking a $1.2 billion charge in a bid to
return to profitability while JDS said its
second-quarter loss widened because customers cut
inventories. Analysts and investors will now be
turning to Alcatel to assess the impact of
declining investments on the Paris-based company.
Chief Executive Serge Tchuruk said in October he
expected sales growth of 25 percent in 2001.
He also said telecom-related sales would rise more
than 35 percent in 2000 with operating income
growing twice as fast.
Alcatel has spent about $16 billion on acquisitions
since 1998, including Xylan Corp. and Canada's
Newbridge Networks Corp., to compete against
companies such as Ericsson AB. After it sells its
cable unit, all of Alcatel's revenue will be
telecom-related, compared with 35 percent in 1995.
What the Experts Say:
``Just like Nortel Networks Inc., what we will be
looking at is the impact of an economic
slowdown in the U.S., as well as reduced spending
from telecommunication operators,'' said
Antoine Joly, an analyst at Aurel-Leven in Paris who
advises investors to buy Alcatel shares.
``I remain confident about Alcatel. Unlike rivals,
Alcatel is less exposed in the U.S., and better
implemented in Europe.''
``If Alcatel maintains its strong outlook, it will
reinforce the notion that some companies -- like
Alcatel and Nokia Oyj --are gaining market share from
rivals, and that not everyone is suffering
from a slowdown,'' said Manuel Lachaux, an analyst at
ETC in Paris, who rates Alcatel shares
``add.''
Previous Market Reaction:
Alcatel shares rose 1.3 percent to 71.9 euros on Oct.
31, after the company reported
third-quarter profit more than tripled to 297 million
euros, or 0.25 euro a share.
Market Performance:
Alcatel shares gained 32 percent last year, while
Paris's benchmark CAC 40 index was unchanged,
and are up 6 percent this year, valuing the company
at 75 billion euros. The stock is down a third
from its Sept. 4 high of 90.05 euros. |
