Just three weeks after agreeing, to be bought by Nokia, in a 15.6 billion Euro deal, the revenue and earnings of the network-equipment company, Alcatel-Lucent SA have considerably risen.

Alcatel-Lucent, reported on Thursday that its adjusted operating profit more than doubled to 82 million Euros, compared with 33 million Euros a year ago. The sales rose by 9%to 3.24 billion Euros for the quarter, topping the analyst’s estimate of an average 3.01 billion Euros. The company improved its gross margin to 34.6% from 32.3% a year earlier.

The Paris-based maker of wireless network gear and Internet-routing equipment has posted a net loss of 72 million Euros, or 3 cents a share, for the first quarter of this year, compared with a loss of 73 million, or 3 cents a share, in the same period last year. It has also reported a free cash flow loss in the first quarter to the tune of 332 million Euros.

Alcatel-Lucent investors will receive 0.55 Nokia shares for each stock they own.

Michel Combes, chief executive officer of Alcatel-Lucent, stated that Alcatel-Lucent is committed to show its first-ever full year of positive free cash flow in 2015. He said, “In a challenging environment and in particular a slow spending environment in North America, Alcatel-Lucent was able to increase its margin. Our agreement with Nokia does not depend on a single quarter; it’s based on long-term industrial trends”.

Rajeev Suri, Nokia’s Chief Executive Officer, commented that this weak first quarter does not put the Alcatel-Lucent transaction at risk.

Nokia has bought Alcatel-Lucent in order to create a vendor that can surpass Ericsson AB and Huawei Technologies Co. in wireless-infrastructure revenue. Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent have jointly stated that combining assets is the best way to create a European player that can compete in the long run, in an industry that faces billions of Euros in investments.