French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent said Friday it made a profit of more than one billion euros ($1.33 billion) last year, bouncing back from a loss of 334 million in 2010.

The result came despite a 2.1 slip in sales to 15.3 billion euros, a company statement said.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, Alcatel's net profit more than doubled to 868 euros, while sales fell by 12.9 percent to 4.15 billion owing to a double-digit drop in sales at its mobile and networks division.

That was the result of a sharp decline in investment by operators following several quarters of strong growth, Alcatel said.

At the net profit level however, "it was the first full year that we were in the black since the merger" in 2006 of the French group Alcatel and US partner Lucent, chief executive Ben Verwaayen told a telephone news conference.

A breakdown by geography in the fourth quarter of 2011 showed weaker activity in North America, which had benefitted from strong growth in recent quarters, while Central and South America continued to report robust activity.