The latest collapse in capital spending by telecoms firms has forced Lucent Technologies to cut its sales predictions for the next 12 months, though the troubled US telecoms equipment maker insisted that it would end its losses by this time next year. Lucent, which employs 900 people in Dublin, posted an $8.8 billion (€9.9 billion) fourth-quarter net loss yesterday, mostly due to a massive restructuring charge. Excluding the charge and other one-time items, Lucent lost $909 million, or 27 US cents a share, in its fiscal fourth quarter, compared to analysts' forecasts of a 23 cent loss.