Adjusted net income for the third quarter, which excludes deferred stock compensation charges, payroll taxes on stock option exercises, a benefit from receipt of a previously written down receivable, and amortization of intangibles and goodwill, was $58.0 million or, $0.17, earnings per diluted share. This represents an increase of approximately 100 percent and 70 percent respectively, when compared with adjusted net income for the same period a year ago of $28.8 million or, $0.10, earnings per diluted share, exclusive of payroll tax on stock option exercises, provision for a doubtful account, gain on settlement of an accrued contract obligation and amortization of intangibles and goodwill. Consolidated statements of operations showing net income inclusive of the aforementioned items have been included with this press release. Consensus of First Call estimates for CIENA’s third quarter fiscal 2001 was $0.16, earnings per diluted share.
In a difficult telecom equipment environment, CIENA continues to differentiate itself by demonstrating strong year-over-year revenue and net income growth, and by taking market share, said Gary Smith, CIENA’s president and CEO. The past year has been a challenging one for the industry, but seismic shifts in technology have historically caused market turmoil. This market turmoil, in turn, sets the stage for new market leaders to emerge and we believe CIENA is positioned to be one of these leaders.
CIENA continues to meaningfully diversify its growing customer base, adding revenue from six new customers in the third quarter. The Company’s total revenue-generating optical networking equipment customer base now totals 55, of which, a record-high 45 contributed to CIENA’s revenues during the most recent quarter. In addition, sales of CoreDirectorÔ, CIENA’s industry-leading next-generation, intelligent optical core switching platform, surpassed ten percent of total revenue for the third sequential quarter and increased 20 percent over the previous quarter.
Recent market studies by industry analyst firms, including The Aberdeen Group, have confirmed that service provider spending is shifting from legacy systems to next generation systems. Based on a survey of 74 carriers and service providers, Aberdeen published a report entitled Shining the Light on Intelligent Optical Networking, Redefining the Market Yields New Results: A Demand Side Study. In this report, Aberdeen indicates that CIENA, with its focus on next-generation intelligent optical networking systems, is the best positioned optical equipment vendor in the marketplace.
SOURCE: COMPANY PRESS RELEASE
