Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson has posted its ninth quarterly loss in a row but signalled that restructuring was putting it on course for profits.
Ericsson, hard hit by the bursting of the telecoms bubble, reported a net loss of €295m in the second quarter, little changed from the same period last year. But adjusted pre-tax losses were much lower than the market had feared.
Ericsson's results came only a day after Finnish rival Nokia had shaken stock markets worldwide by reporting a sharp fall in profit.
But Ericsson's chief executive Carl-Henric Svanberg said the company was pulling out of the nosedive the bursting of the telecoms bubble had plunged the company, predicting Ericsson would return to profit in 2003.
Sales for the quarter were 28% lower than in the same period last year. Looking ahead to the third quarter, the company said it expected its sales to be 'flat or slightly down'.
