Infrastructure vendor Alcatel-Lucent has forecast a loss for the second quarter of 2012, citing a “slower than expected business mix improvement”.

The company also said that while it expects the second half of the year to be better than the first, it will not now meet its previously-announced adjusted operating margin guidance for 2012. It noted a “difficult macro-economic environment”.

For the second quarter, the company anticipates a loss of around EUR40 million, with revenue above EUR3.5 billion.

According to the company, during the second quarter it saw a “good sequential growth in sales with all geographies and divisions growing”. Its efforts to cut costs “remained strong”, with a decrease of more than EUR100 million year-on-year.

According to Odon de Laporte, an analyst at Credit Agricole Cheuvreux cited by Bloomberg, the company has also been impacted by slow business in China. During the first quarter, the company noted “extremely weak” sales of GSM equipment in China, due to the timings of the sales cycle.

Alcatel-Lucent has already reported a “slow start to the year”, with its first-quarter net profit bolstered by the disposal of its Genesys contact centre business – on an operating level, it saw a loss.

It has previously noted weakness in its CDMA business, as operators shifted their focus to next-generation technologies. In the first quarter, it saw “double digit” growth in its WCDMA and LTE units.

However, it has also seen weakness in its fixed-line portfolio, including for its Optics division and its “legacy” Wireline business.
According to reports, Alcatel-Lucent recently won part of a large contract to supply equipment to Indian operator BSNL.

The company will announce its second quarter results on 26 July.