Alcatel-Lucent banks on China for profit growth

French-American telecom gear maker Alcatel-Lucent yesterday posted its first profit in 11 quarters, thanks to aggressive costs cuts, an asset sale and robust sales growth in Asia, especially, China.

The world's biggest fixed telecom equipment provider expects to turn profitable next year, its CEO said yesterday.

The telecom equipment giant, formed after the merger of Alcatel of France and US-based Lucent in 2006, will increasingly look to countries like China and India for business opportunities amid the industry-wide telecom gear market slowdown, Ben Verwaayen, its CEO said yesterday in a telephonic interview to China Daily.