Losses At Enterasys And Sycamore

Enterasys Networks and Sycamore Networks, two companies that flew high before the telecom bubble burst three years ago, are still struggling to report an increase in sales or a profit in their latest quarter financial reports.

Enterasys--formerly Cabletron--reported its sales fell 15 percent, while Sycamore's sales fell 36 percent. Both companies, however, were optimistic about their respective firms' future prospects.

"We are very optimistic about our opportunities in 2004," said Enterasys chief executive officer William O'Brien in a statement. "We have a much improved product portfolio." The firm lost $8.9 million on sales of $103 million.

Sycamore lost $13 million on sales of $6.88 million. The company's president and chief executive officer Daniel Smith said in a statement: "Despite disappointing revenue for the second quarter, we made progress in expanding our customer base with the Defense Information Systems Agency's selection of Sycamore's products to serve as the optical digital cross connect platform for the GIG-BE project." The award is a part of a program to upgrade the Defense Department's communications system.

Sycamore has reported 12 straight quarters of losses.