By Juhana Rossi
Sweden's Ericsson AB on Thursday reported a weaker-than-expected
net profit for the first quarter as higher operating costs and
lower spending by the U.S. network operators weighed on its
earnings.
Ericsson, the world's leading telecom-equipment maker, said that
although favorable currency movements boosted its revenue, its
profitability suffered because of restructuring charges and a shift
in its sales to lower-margin projects.
The company's first-quarter net profit came in at 1.32 billion
Swedish kronor, or 0.40 kronor a share. The figure missed a median
forecast of 2.23 billion kronor, or 0.68 kronor a share, in an
analyst poll by Reuters. In the year-ago period Ericsson's net
profit was 2.12 billion kronor, or 0.65 kronor a share.
Ericsson said net sales in the three months to March 31 rose 13%
to 53.52 billion kronor, from 47.51 billion kronor in the
year-earlier period, beating analysts' forecasts of 53.49 billion
kronor, according to the Reuters poll.
Write to Juhana Rossi at juhana.rossi@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for LM Ericsson Telefon AB
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=SE0000108656
Access Investor Kit for LM Ericsson Telefon AB
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US2948216088
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires