Ericsson results show positive growth

Ericsson has announced a 52% jump in earnings for the fourth quarter of 2005 with net profit rising to SKR8.5 billion (USD1.18 billion) from SKR5.6 billion in the same period of 2004. Its full-year net profit was up 39% to SKR24.3 billion. The company stated that seasonal sales during the festive period and increasing interest in its managed services activity helped boost fourth quarter sales by 16% to SKR45.7 billion, and full-year sales by 15% to SKR151.8 billion. Sales in Latin America grew by 32% in 2005, with North America up 26%, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East up 19%, Asia-Pacific up 10% and Western Europe up 5%. Ericsson said its recent acquisition of Marconi would have a neutral effect on earnings per share in 2006 and contribute positively to its earnings from 2007. Ericsson claims to have supplied 49 of the 91 W-CDMA networks that have been rolled out globally, and installed HSDPA capability for 21 networks in 17 countries.