Franco-US vendor Alcatel-Lucent said Tuesday that first quarter loss increased to €402m during the first three months of 2009, compared to a loss of €181m in the same period last year.

Revenues for the period also decreased 6.9 per cent year on year from €3.86bn in 2008 to €3.59bn in 2009.

The company said that while revenues at the Carrier and Enterprise unit declined at double digit rates year on year, reflecting capital constraints in fixed and mobile access, revenues from the Services division grew in the high teens.

Geographically, the decline was most pronounced in North America, where revenues decreased 28 year on year, and to a lesser extent in the Asia Pacific region, where sales were down 8 per cent. Reiterating its guidance for the full year 2009, Alcatel-Lucent said it still anticipates adjusted operating profit around break even, while the global telecommunications equipment and services market is expected to be down between 8 per cent and 12 per cent over the year.

So far the company has eliminated 290 management positions out of the 1,000 planned, while the number of contractors has been reduced by about 770 out of the 5,000 planned. Alcatel-Lucent said it still expects that, by the fourth quarter, it should achieve total cost and expense savings of €750m. The company is also seeking potential co-sourcing partners, to help optimise its efficiency in areas such as IS/IT, finance, HR and R&D.

Meanwhile, the planned sale of the firm’s 20.8 per cent stake in defence firm Thales to Dassault Aviation for €r1.6bn has been approved by all relevant regulatory authorities.