Wireless Earnings

Communications Today, April 23, 1999

Higher sales didn't generate larger profits at wireless provider L.M. Ericsson AB [ERICY], which yesterday posted 1Q net income of $108.4 million on sales of $5 billion, compared to 1Q98's net income of $215.6 million on $4.6 billion in sales. Better 1Q results were reported by AirTouch Communications [ATI], which had earnings of 43 cents per share on operating revenues of $1.42 billion, up from 30 cents a share on revenues of $958 million in the same period last year.

AirTouch gained 1.1 million new subscribers in the quarter, giving it an annualized growth of 34 percent. Handset-maker Nokia [NOK], meanwhile, had a barnburner quarter with a 92 percent increase in handset sales compared to the year-ago quarter. Nokia posted a 1Q operating profit of $834 million on sales of $4.2 billion, up sharply from a $423 million operating profit on sales of $2.7 billion in 1Q98.