Ericsson hurt by North American Slowdown

Sweden’s Ericsson AB on Tuesday reported a weaker-than-expected net profit for the fourth quarter, hurt by a slowdown in spending by network operators in North America.

However, the telecom-equipment maker said weaker sales in the lucrative North American market were partly offset by a better performance in the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Ericsson reported net profit of 4.22 billion Swedish kronor ($508 million), or 1.29 kronor a share, for the fourth quarter, below analysts’ forecast of a median 4.56 billion kronor, or 1.39 kronor a share.

In the same period last year Ericsson’s reported a net profit of 6.41 billion kronor, boosted by a one-time gain of 3.3 billion kronor from a licensing agreement with Samsung Electronics Co.

Net sales in the October-to-December quarter came in at 67.99 billion kronor, up 1% from 67.03 billion kronor in the same period last year.

Source: MarketWatch