TORONTO - The indignities keep coming for Nortel Networks Corp. (TSX:NT) as it operates under court protection from creditors: a 2008 net loss of US$5.8 billion and no optimism for 2009.

Nortel lost more than US$2 billion in the fourth quarter, pulled down by heavy asset writeoffs and a 15 per cent slump in sales for the penny-stock telecommunications equipment maker, which once was Canada's most extravagantly valued company.

Looking for a bright side, chief executive Mike Zafirovski said Monday that Nortel's operating profit margin, as adjusted and tracked by management, was its best since the technology bubble imploded in 2008, with fourth-quarter operating costs down 30 per cent from a year earlier.

But Zafirovski did not hold a conference call to discuss Nortel's plight with investors and analysts. And management declined to offer projections for 2009 "due to limited industry visibility, continued global economic uncertainty and work taking place on a comprehensive restructuring plan under Nortel's creditor protection filings."

Nortel, which filed for bankruptcy shelter on Jan. 14, did announce that chief financial officer Pavi Binning has been handed the additional title of chief restructuring officer.

The Toronto-headquartered company, which keeps its accounts in U.S. dollars, booked a fourth-quarter net loss of $2.14 billion or $4.28 per share, compared with a year-ago loss of $844 million, $1.70 per share. Revenue was $2.72 billion, down from $3.2 billion a year ago but up from $2.32 billion in the third quarter.

The latest quarter included $2.19 billion in non-cash charges: $1.24 billion in impairment of goodwill, the amount paid for acquisitions above their tangible value, and $951 million to effectively write off future tax assets, which indicates Nortel doesn't expect to earn profits it could offset with past losses for tax purposes. The quarter also included $97 million in restructuring costs and a $46-million foreign exchange loss.

"The fourth-quarter revenues decreased 15 per cent as the market continued to deteriorate and customers either reduced or deferred spending," Zafirovski stated.

"However, strong operating performance focused on customers, costs and cash resulted in meeting or exceeding guidance for management operating margin and cash."

Nortel announced last February it was cutting 2,100 jobs and moving 1,000 others to lower-cost locations, and it said last week it is laying off 3,200 more people worldwide. It currently has about 30,000 workers, including 5,800 in Canada.

"At every level, our employees are working hard in an extremely difficult environment to deliver on our customer commitments and drive our business forward," Zafirovski stated.

Zafirovski, who after being hired in late 2005 repeatedly pledged to "recreate a great company" in the face of accounting turmoil and eroding business fundamentals, said Monday that "work is taking place across Nortel to develop a comprehensive plan to restructure Nortel into a more focused, leaner and more competitive company."

It ended 2008 with $2.4 billion in cash, after an operating cash outflow of $89 million in the fourth quarter and $567 million in the full year.

Full-year revenue of $10.42 billion was down five per cent from $10.95 billion in 2007. The 2008 net loss of just under $5.8 billion was worth $11.64 per share. In 2007, Nortel lost $957 million or $1.98 per share.

Nortel stock ended Monday off half a cent to 10 cents Cdn on the TSX, down from over $10 last June and from a reverse-split-adjusted high of $1,245 in mid-2000.

In the fourth-quarter results, revenue in Nortel's carrier networks business -- selling switches and other infrastructure to telecom companies -- was $1.23 billion, down eight per cent from a year ago but up by half from the third quarter thanks to completion of contracts.

In the enterprise solutions division, providing technology for business users, revenue was $535 million, which Nortel said was down 30 per cent from a year ago, "negatively impacted by lower volumes in all businesses and geographies and unfavourable effects of foreign exchange."

Global services revenue sagged 12 per cent to $530 million, pulled down by weak sales in Nortel's other segments.

In the metro ethernet networks division, a maker of city-wide high-speed networks which Nortel tried unsuccessfully to sell, fourth-quarter revenue was $371 million, down 14 per cent from a year ago, "primarily due to reduced customer spending and unfavourable effects of foreign exchange, partially offset by continued momentum in next-generation optical sales."

Total orders were $2.64 billion in the fourth quarter, down from $3.24 billion a year ago.

Three-month operating expenses were $802 million, down from $1.15 billion, while selling, general and administrative costs were cut to $467 million from $678 million, and research and development was pared to $335 million from $475 million.