Ericsson reports operating profit of SEK33.1bn for 2005

Nordic Business Report, Jan 31, 2006

NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT-31 January 2006-Ericsson reports operating profit of SEK33.1bn for 2005(C)1994-2006 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com

Swedish telecomms solutions provider Ericsson reported on Tuesday (31 January) an operating profit of SEK33.1bn on net sales of SEK151.8bn for the financial year January-December 2005.

Both operating profit and net sales for the 12-month period increased, respectively from SEK26.7bn and SEK132.0bn, as compared to the financial year 2004.

Operating profit for the quarter October-December 2005 amounted to SEK10.4bn on net sales of SEK45.7bn.

Earnings per share (EPS) in 2005 improved to SEK1.53 from SEK1.11 in 2004. The company's board of directors would propose a dividend of SEK0.45 per share for 2005.

Ericsson expected the traffic growth in the world's mobile networks to continue as a result of new services as well as new subscribers. The company maintained its view that the global mobile systems market would show slight growth in 2006, as compared to 2005.

One Swedish krona (SEK) is worth approximately 0.07 British pounds (GBP).

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