Shares of Alcatel Lucent plummeted in France on Friday morning after the telecom equipment maker swung to a third-quarter loss.

Sales dropped 2.8% to €3.6bn with the net loss coming in at €146m, compared to last year's profit of €194m.

Even after stripping out one-time items, the adjusted operating bottom line settled at a loss of €125m, down from a third-quarter 2011 profit of €149m.

The French company burned through €320m in cash and said it is "in the process of studying different alternatives" to reinforce its balance sheet.

Chief Financial Officer Paul Tufano said the company is considering asset disposal but gave no further details.

Alcatel was leading the losses on the Cac 40 in Paris in mid-morning trade, dropping 6.43% to €0.7710.

JM

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