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Technology Stocks : Lucent Technologies (LU) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: fiberman who wrote (17881)	3/20/2001 9:05:17 PM
From: matt dillabough	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21876

DJ Corning CEO:Co. Has Mulled Bid For Lucent Fiber Business Dow Jones News Service ~ March 20, 2001 ~ 4:57 pm EST NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Corning Inc. (GLW) Chief Executive John Loose said Tuesday the company has had internal discussions concerning a possible bid for Lucent Technologies Inc.'s (LU) optical fiber business. But he acknowledged that such a deal would face antitrust concerns and would not comment on whether the company had spoken with Lucent about a bid. Last week, Lucent announced the company was pursuing strategic alternatives for its fiber optic business, which is expected to have annual revenue approaching $2 billion this year. (MORE) DOW JONES NEWS 03-20-01 04:57 PM DJ Corning CEO-2:Fiber Manufacturing Still At Peak Capacity Such a deal would likely face regulatory scrutiny because Corning is the world's leading provider of optical fiber with a market share estimated to be near 50%. Lucent is the second largest supplier of optical fiber. On Monday, Corning said it expects the worldwide fiber market to grow 20% this year and its growth in fiber volume will be in line with market expectations. Corning continues to be sold out of optical fiber manufacturing capacity, CEO Loose said. In an interview Tuesday with Dow Jones Newswires at the Optical Fiber Conference in Anaheim, Calif., Loose said he still believes demand for broadband will grow at more than 100% a year for the next 10 to 15 years. "I think that number is conservative," Loose said. But a slowdown in telecommunications carrier spending caused the company to lower 2001 earnings estimates Monday to a range of $1.20 to $1.30 a share from $ 1.40 to $1.43. Corning expects 2001 revenue to be in the range of $8.2 billion to $8.5 billion. "I can't remember the last time we lowered expectations," he said. "What's going on in the market is pretty unusual. I think all of us are faced with the question of how long is this going to last." Corning, like other companies selling optical components and systems, now expects a recovery in telecommunications spending will take longer to develop than initially expected. Corning lowered its growth rate in its optical components business to between 10% and 30% for the year. That growth estimate had been as high as 90% last year. "What we started hearing from our customers in the last week or so is that things were slower," he said. "We had some slippage." A shortage of optical components last year had led many of Corning's customers to buy excess product which Loose expects them to bleed off throughout this quarter and into the next. "I don't think anybody anticipated the slowdown," he said. "We got very used to hypergrowth rates." Corning's optical components business had doubled its sales annually for the past few years. Loose said the company was so focused on meeting demand that it wasn't wary of a possible downturn. But Loose said with increased liquidity in the capital markets telecommunications spending growth could return to high levels quickly. "It could come back as fast as it seemed to slip away," Loose said. -By Johnathan Burns, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2020 (END) DOW JONES NEWS 03-20-01 05:19 PM =DJ Corning CEO-3: Deal Timing Could Raise Concerns -Analyst An offer by Corning to buy Lucent's optical-fiber unit would raise serious antitrust concerns and would a take long time to be approved, said Ari Bensinger, an analyst with Standard & Poor's. The timing of a deal might represent a sensitive issue for Lucent, given the company's financial situation. Lucent put the unit up for sale as part of a plan aimed at narrowing the focus of its business and fending off liquidity problems. Bensinger compared a possible acquisition of Lucent's unit by Corning to JDS Uniphase Corp.'s (JDSU) $17 billion acquisition of SDL Inc. (SDLI), completed in February. "It took JDS six months to get regulatory approval," he said. "In that period, the companies' shares were put under severe pressure." Similarly, he said, concerns over the time frame of a possible deal between Corning and Lucent would cast a cloud over the companies' stocks. -Johnathan Burns, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2020 -Elena Molinari, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4047; elena.molinari@ dowjones.com (END) DOW JONES NEWS 03-20-01 06:39 PM