Swedish comms giant Ericsson is to take the axe to jobs across the business after net profit for the last quarter of 2009 plunged a horrifying 92%.
Across the board, Ericsson's Q4 profits fell from 3.89bn SEK this time last year to just 314m SEK (£26.9m) at the end of 2009.
Net sales for comparable units fell 16% year-on-year to 55.6bn SEK, excluding Ericsson Mobile Platforms and the recently acquired Nortel CDMA and LTE business.
The Nortel business contributed sales of 2.7bn SEK duringQ4.
The cost-saving plan initiated this time last year continued to cut a swathe through Ericsson's head count. The firm canned 5,000 during 2009 and today said that 1,500 more were for the chop, including 600 at its loss-making chip unit, ST-Ericsson.
Ericsson president and CEO, Hans Vestberg, said reduced operator spending during 2009 had hit its networks business hardest of all.
However, he went on: "We maintained market shares well in all segments, cash flow was good and our financial position is strong. The services business [particularly in the UK] performed well and our joint ventures remain on track to return to profit."
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