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

To: bertrand bidaud who wrote (526)	3/11/1999 4:54:00 AM
From: bertrand bidaud	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3891

More from Bloomberg 3/11 France's Alcatel to Cut 12,000 Jobs in Next Two Years (Update2) France's Alcatel to Cut 12,000 Jobs in Next Two Years (Update2) (Leads on job cuts, adds company comment from 6th paragraph.) Paris, March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Alcatel SA, Europe's No. 2 phone-equipment maker, said it will cut 12,000 jobs, or a tenth of its workforce, over the next two years to cut costs and boost profitability. The announcement came as the French company said it will raise its dividend 14 percent to 2.0 euros ($2.18) a share for 1998. It also confirmed net income last year rose to 2.34 billion euros, or 13.16 euros per fully diluted share, from 711 million or 4.44 the year before, helped by demand for its high-speed data and submarine networks. Alcatel pushed into the fast-growing market for Internet equipment last week with two purchases of U.S. technology companies totaling $2.35 billion. Now, it must work quickly to digest its acquisitions and turn around its unit for mobile infrastructure to drive future growth, analysts said. ''Strategically, they've improved their position quite significantly,'' said Peter Knox, an analyst at Commerzbank Global Equities in London. Alcatel shares rose as much as 3.8 percent, or 4.4 euros, to 120. The company forecast an operating margin at its telecommunications arm of 7 percent next year. It expects income from operations from telecommunications equipment will rise 40 percent this year, the same increase as in 1998. ''While still facing economic uncertainties and anticipating that the slowdown which occurred last year in traditional switching markets will continue in the first half of 1999, Alcatel expects to maintain double digit growth for telecom sales for the full year,'' the company said in a statement. Wooing Investors Serge Tchuruk, Alcatel's chief executive, is trying to win back investor confidence after his warning in September that the company would miss 1998 profit forecasts drove its stock down 38 percent in one day. The shares gained 24 percent in four days amid last week's acquisitions. Alcatel offered $2 billion, or $37 a share, for the data- networking company Xylan Corp., based in Calabasas, California. It followed that with a $350 million offer for closely held, Milpitas, California-based Assured Access Technology Inc. for $350 million in cash. Profit from operations rose 11 percent to 997 million euros. That's in line with Alcatel's preliminary figure of 1.0 billion euros reported Jan. 28. The company took restructuring charges of 406 million euros last year, compared with 50 million the year before. Revenue rose to 21.26 billion euros from 20.06 billion.