Ericsson reports operating profit for Q4 and 2003

Nordic Business Report, Feb 6, 2004

NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT-6 February 2004-Ericsson reports operating profit for Q4 and 2003(C)1994-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com

Swedish telecomms solutions provider Ericsson released on Friday (6 February) its report for the fourth quarter of 2003, showing a 1% fall in net sales to SEK36.2bn.

Adjusted operating income after financial items amounted to a profit of SEK5.5bn, up from the loss of SEK2.1bn in the fourth quarter of 2002.

For the full year 2003 Ericsson reported net sales of SEK117.7bn, a decrease from SEK145.8bn in 2002, while the year's adjusted operating income after financial items increased from a loss of SEK14.0bn to a profit of SEK2.8bn.

During the year the number of Ericsson employees decreased to 51,583 from 64,621 in 2002, and the company maintained its previous target to reach a total number of employees of 47,000 during 2004.

Ericsson said it believed that the market had stabilized, and that the global mobile systems market in 2004 (measured in US dollars) will be in line with, or show slight growth, compared to 2003.

One Swedish krona (SEK) is worth approximately 0.08 British pounds (GBP).

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