Jan Frykhammar

Ericsson reported a bigger decline in profit than analysts expected in the first quarter of 2013, but the Swedish equipment manufacturer said the quarter was in line with its own expectations and expects softer areas of development to balance out over the year.

Ericsson surprised analysts by reporting fourth-quarter sales figures above estimates helped by North American orders rising sharply to €1.97 billion the fourth quarter, a 51 per cent increase. overall net sales grew 5 per cent year-over-year to €7.77 billion.

Ericsson reported that its net profit declined 43 percent in the third quarter as weaker network sales and cautious operator spending weighed down its results. Slimmer profits from large-scale network modernization projects weakened the company's margins, and weaker sales in key regions depressed earnings, but the Swedish vendor got a boost from strong North American sales.

Ericsson reported weaker sales and a sharper than expected drop in second-quarter profit as carriers cut back on networks sales. However, the Swedish vendor said that it expects results to improve toward the end of the year.