Europe's largest communications equipment firm Alcatel posted a much narrower quarterly loss on Thursday thanks to stronger demand and cost cuts, and said sales would grow in 2004 after falling for three years.
Alcatel said its fourth-quarter net loss including restructuring provisions shrank to 524 million euros ($657.4 million) from 1.12 billion euros a year earlier.
Operating profit rose to 331 million euros from 20 million. Revenues fell 16.5 percent to 3.765 billion euros.
Alcatel's improved bottom line and cautious optimism was the latest sign the market for communications gear has started to rebound after a severe slump that cut deeply into profits and revenues at the world's top manufacturers.
The company said its earnings per share would be positive in 2004 before goodwill amortisation, and operating margin should rise "several points" from 8.8 percent at the end of 2003.