Lucent Technologies, the largest US telecommunications equipment maker, reported its second successive profitable year although fiscal fourth-quarter profits fell by 69 per cent compared to a year ago. Net income fell to $374 million from $1.21 billion a year earlier when the New Jersey-based company recorded a $1 billion tax gain. Profit in the latest period went up by $107 million. Gross margins improved to 46 per cent in the fourth quarter from 41 per cent in the year-ago period. Revenues for the quarter increased by 1.2 per cent to $2.43 billion and by 4.4 per cent to $9.44 billion for the year. Networking and wireline equipment sales rose 6.2 per cent to $739 million. Lucent won contracts from companies including Hanarotelecom, South Korea’s second largest provider of broadband internet access, to provide equipment for VoIP services.
