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Technology Stocks : Alcatel (ALA) and France -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zbyslaw owczarczyk who wrote (2680)	10/31/2000 3:02:03 AM
From: zbyslaw owczarczyk	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3891

``We like making forecasts and beating them,'' said Jean- Pierre Halbron, Alcatel's chief financial officer in a conference call for news agencies. Alcatel had previously said it expected full-year sales to rise 35 percent. --------------------- Top Financial News 10/31 02:27 Alcatel Raises 2000 Outlook; 3rd-Qtr Profit Triples (Correct) By Jad Mouawad Alcatel Raises 2000 Outlook; 3rd-Qtr Profit Triples (Correct) (Corrects third-quarter operating profit in 5th paragraph.) Paris, Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Alcatel SA, Europe's second- biggest telephone-equipment maker, raised its forecast for full- year sales growth to the ``high thirties,'' driven by demand for optical equipment and other Internet-related gear. Operating income from telecommunications will grow twice as fast as sales. Net income in the third quarter more than tripled to 297 million euros ($249 million), or 0.25 euro per share, from 83 million euros, or 0.09 euro, in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose 50 percent to 7.9 billion euros. Alcatel also said sales should grow at least 25 percent next year. The French company has made $16 billion worth of acquisitions since 1998, including the recent $7.1 billion purchase of Newbridge Networks Corp., to keep pace with rivals such as Lucent Technologies Inc. and Nortel Networks Corp. ``We like making forecasts and beating them,'' said Jean- Pierre Halbron, Alcatel's chief financial officer in a conference call for news agencies. Alcatel had previously said it expected full-year sales to rise 35 percent. Operating profit in the third quarter more than doubled to 619 million euros. The announcement was made before the Paris market opened. Alcatel shares are the third-best performing stock on the benchmark CAC 40 index since the beginning of the year, rising 56 percent. The shares fell 2.50 to 71 euros yesterday, valuing the company at 81.3 billion euros. Alcatel's figures beat analyst's expectations. Net income was seen rising to 260 million euros, operating income was seen at 550 million euros and revenue was expected to gain 35 percent to 7.08 billion euros, according to the average estimate of six analysts polled by Bloomberg News. Alcatel Optronics, the company's optical components unit, posted a 4.8 million euro loss in the third quarter, compared with a profit of 4 million euros in the year earlier period. This includes a 22.1 million euro charge following the acquisition of Innovative Fibers Inc. earlier this year. Optronics's sales more than doubled to 124.9 million euros. Shares of Optronics rose 1.7 euros at 72.4 yesterday.