Ericsson misses profit estimates

Ericsson has reported a worse than expected 30 per cent 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 officer Hans Vestberg said in a statement.

"Operators in a number of developing markets were still cautious with their investments," he added.

The group posted a 30 per cent drop in net profit to 1.26 billion Swedish kroner (€131 million) for the first three months of the year, down from 1.72 billion for the same period of last year.

The result fell short of analysts' estimates for 1.79 billion kroner, as polled by Dow Jones Newswires.