No turnaround yet at Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) is falling further behind in the race to build new telecom networks. The struggling telecom equipment company on Friday posted its latest round of disappointing results and took a $3.7 billion goodwill writedown tied to the company’s flagging wireless gear business. The company lost 2.58 billion euros ($3.8 billion), or 1.14 euros a share, for its fourth quarter. On an adjusted basis, Alcatel-Lucent lost 3 cents (U.S.) a share, compared with a loss of 36 cents a share a year ago. Revenue rose 18% from a year ago to $7.7 billion. Analysts had been looking for a 15-cent profit on revenue of $7.3 billion.

The latest setback at Alcatel-Lucent comes just three months after the board forced CEO Pat Russo to devise a turnaround plan. Despite the usual mention of economic uncertainty and claims to be executing on the company’s strategy, she indicated Friday that the company’s efforts to compete for third-generation wireless contracts have been less than satisfactory. “The performance of our wireline, enterprise and services business has been solid,” she said Friday. “On the other hand, the slower-than-expected ramp up of revenues in WCDMA and NGN/IMS, two areas in which we have been investing, has severely impacted profitability.” And there’s no sign that will change any time soon: Alcatel-Lucent suspended its dividend, citing “a more uncertain market outlook.” Unfortunately, another poor performance seems all but certain at Alcatel-Lucent.