Alcatel-Lucent grew its core networking revenues by 7% year-on-year during the first quarter to €1.45 billion ($1.63 billion), but the vendor remained in the red for the period.
The vendor reported a net loss of €72 million, a slight improvement on the €73 million loss recorded in the same quarter a year earlier.
Group revenue excluding managed services revenue increased 12% year-on-year, with access segment revenues improving 13% to €1.78 billion in addition to the growth in core networking income.
During the quarter, China Telecom selected Alcatel-Lucent as a top three supplier for its LTE rollout in 40 cities across 12 provinces.
The company also reported gains in the fixed access and IP platforms segments and expanded its optical networking and subsea cable portfolios.
“Our first quarter 2015 results reflect not only strong growth in our next-generation products, but also the diligent efforts we have made to turn Alcatel-Lucent around and build a more resilient organization,” Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes commented.
“Evidence of our progress is shown through the continued improvement in margins and cash flow. Execution of the Shift Plan is and will continue to be our top priority... These results help pave the way for successful execution of our goals as we prepare for our combination with Nokia.”
Nokia has arranged to pay €15.6 billion via a share swap deal to acquire Alcatel-Lucent and merge with the vendor.