Ericsson reported a worse than expected 30% slump in net profit in the first quarter as the Swedish telecoms equipment giant suffered from weak sales.
Ericsson, which also was hit by big restructuring charges, said that weak conditions seen last year carried over into the first three months of this year.
'The market conditions we saw in the second half of 2009 prevailed also in this quarter with mixed operator investment behavior across regions and markets,' chief executive Hans Vestberg said.
'Operators in a number of developing markets were still cautious with their investments,' he added.
The group posted a 30% drop in net profit to 1.26 billion Swedish kroner (€131m) for the first three months of the year, down from 1.72 billion for the same time last year. The result fell short of analysts' estimates for 1.79 billion kroner.
Sales fell 9% over the period to 45.1 billion kroner from 49.6 billion. Financial analysts had forecast that sales would fall by 3% to 47.8 billion kroner.
