Lucent Technologies Inc. announced a fall of 79 per cent in its quarterly profit today.
The fall was blamed on lower sales of wireless network equipment in North America, in line with a warning earlier this month.
Lucent , due to be acquired by French communications equipment maker Alcatel later this year, said net income dropped to $79 million, or 2 cents per diluted share, in its fiscal third quarter ended June 30, from $372 million, or 7 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
Revenue fell to $2.05 billion from $2.34 billion, but was in line with its warning on July 10 and market expectations.
Lucent , a leading supplier of equipment for CDMA wireless networks, said the fall in sales reflected a temporary pause in spending by customers who were about to shift to next-generation, high-speed products.
It also said year-ago earnings were lifted by tax items and recoveries of bad debt, worth a total $127 million, or about 2 cents per diluted share.
Alcatel is due to buy the New Jersey-based Lucent for about $14 billion, creating one of the biggest telecommunications equipment makers in the world.
The deal has already won clearance from U.S. competition authorities as well as the European Union. Lucent shareholders will vote on the deal on Sept. 7.