Ciena reported fourth-quarter 2009 revenue was flat compared with Q4 ’08 income. Its quarterly loss was roughly equal to its loss in the same period a year ago.
The big changes were in the intervening months, when Ciena’s fortunes crashed with the general economy. For all of fiscal 2009, the company reported a net loss of $581 million, whereas in 2008 the company turned in a $39 million profit.
For the fiscal year 2009, Ciena reported revenue of $652.6 million, which compares to the $904 million reported a year ago. There was encouragement to be derived, however, from the $176.3 million in revenue recorded in the just-completed fourth quarter, which represented a 7 percent sequential increase from fiscal third-quarter 2009 revenue of $164.8 million.
“Our fiscal fourth-quarter revenue growth was driven by our CN 4200 family, continued strong performance from our carrier Ethernet service delivery portfolio and sequential growth from core switching platforms,” said Gary Smith, Ciena’s CEO and president. “Through the challenging environment of fiscal 2009, we’ve managed the business to balance operating performance with a disciplined approach to strategic investment. As a result of our focus on that commitment, we’re pleased to have achieved our goal of positive cash flow from operations for the fiscal year.”
During the quarter, Ciena announced that it had entered into agreements with Nortel to purchase substantially all of the optical networking and carrier Ethernet assets of Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) business.
Looking ahead, Smith said: “Network capacity drivers show no signs of abating, and we continue to expect that the transition toward more cost-efficient, converged network infrastructures will drive a meaningful network investment cycle for service providers and enterprises alike. We’re excited about the prospect of our combination with the Nortel MEN business, and also about the market entry of significant new products like our CoreDirector FS and 5400 family. We believe the combined company will be well positioned to capture additional market share with a product portfolio and vision that is aligned with market direction.”
