Ericsson Slips To Loss In Q3 On Weak Mobile Broadband Demand - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Ericsson (ERIC), a Swedish telecommunications operator, reported Friday a net loss of 0.2 billion Swedish kronor in its third quarter, compared to prior year's earnings of 3.1 billion kronor. Loss per share was 0.07 krona, compared to earnings of 0.94 krona a year ago.

Operating income plunged 93 percent to 0.3 billion kronor from 5.1 billion kronor a year ago. Operating margin decreased to 0.7% from 8.6% last year, due to lower gross margin and lower sales, partly offset by lower operating expenses.

Net sales were 51.1 billion kronor, down 14 percent from 59.2 billion kronor a year ago. Segment Networks sales declined by 19%.

The company noted that the negative industry trends from the first half of 2016 have further accelerated. The main reason is weaker demand for mobile broadband, especially in markets with a weak macro-economic environment.

Jan Frykhammar, President and CEO of Ericsson, said, "The decline, in both mobile broadband coverage and capacity sales, was particularly strong in markets with a weak macro-economic environment. In addition, capacity sales in Europe were lower than a year ago."