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Ericsson reports loss and additional job cuts in Q1
Apr 29, 2003 (NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT via COMTEX) -- Swedish telecomms solutions provider Ericsson reported today (29 April) an adjusted operating loss of SEK3.4bn on net sales of SEK25.9bn for the financial period January-March 2003.
The adjusted operating loss improved from the loss of SEK4.4bn while net sales decreased 30% from SEK37bn, as compared to corresponding period in 2002.
Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO of Ericsson, said that the company was determined to return to profit during the full-year 2003, and would implement further operating expense reductions of SEK5bn and additional cost of sales reductions of SEK8bn.
The company would reduce the number of its employees from the current 61,000 to some 52,000 at the end of 2003 while the new planned actions would reduce the number of employees to some 47,000 during 2004, according to the CEO.
Ericsson said that its joint company Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (SEMC) shipped 5.4m mobile phones during the first quarter 2003, a decline of 7% as compared with the first quarter 2002. The shipments of TDMA products dropped more than 90% as compared to the first quarter last year, while GSM unit shipments increased 30% with the introduction of new models.
Ericsson expected the number of mobile subscribers to exceed 1.5bn within three years. The company expected between 165m and 180m net additions this year with some 44m during the first quarter.
An estimated 98m mobile phones were sold during the first quarter, the company said, and Ericsson maintained its view that unit volume would increase 10% with over 430m units expected to be shipped this year.
Ericsson expected its sales to increase during the second quarter of 2003, and said that the company would maintain its market share of the mobile systems and professional services markets in 2003.
One Swedish krona (SEK) is worth approximately 0.08 British pounds (GBP).
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