Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Technical analysis for shorts & longs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Johnny Canuck who wrote (35768)	1/4/2002 11:30:02 AM
From: Johnny Canuck	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 67671

Lucent Chairman: 2002 Will Be Challenging Friday January 4 10:29 AM ET CHICAGO (Reuters) - Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU - news), the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker, faces a ''challenging'' environment in fiscal 2002, Chairman Henry Schacht said in a letter to shareholders. ``Our operating environment in the coming year will remain challenging,'' he said in the company's 2001 annual report, which was mailed to shareholders and posted at the company's Web site on Thursday. He also reiterated that the Murray Hill, New Jersey-based company has more than adequate financial resources to complete its turnaround. The company, as recently as last month, has said it expects to return to profitability in fiscal 2002. Lucent launched its restructuring last January and has since slashed its work force to about 77,000 from 106,000 with plans to further reduce that to as low as 57,000. It also posted multibillion-dollar losses during fiscal 2001, killed money-losing or low-profit product lines, and sold off non-core businesses. The company's intention is to remake itself into a smaller, leaner supplier focused on the largest telephone carrier customers, who have best weathered the economic slowdown. Lucent said last month it saw a fiscal first-quarter loss that was larger than Wall Street was expecting due to falling sales amid the prolonged customer spending slump. The company said it believes the first quarter will mark the low point of the market downturn for its revenues. Lucent also has said it expects spending by its major telecom customers to fall 20 percent to 25 percent in 2002, although overall global spending will remain at a high level. The company's shares were up 20 cents, or 2.89 percent, at $7.13, after ranging as high as 7.30 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites). Since the beginning of last year, when Lucent launched its restructuring, its stock has outperformed peers in the Standard & Poor's Communications Equipment Index (^SPCOMM - news) by about 19 percent.