STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – Nordic telecom giant Ericsson reported lower-than-expected profits for the third quarter on Thursday, sending its shares diving as the company stressed rising uncertainty in global markets.
Ericsson’s shares closed down 15 percent on the Stockholm stock exchange.
Sweden’s Ericsson reported a net profit of 5.4 billion Swedish kronor ($480 million) between July and September, down seven percent compared to a year earlier.
It was below analyst expectations of between 5.7 billion and 5.9 billion kronor, according to surveys by financial data firm FactSet and Bloomberg news agency.
The lower profits were partly due to Ericsson’s $6.2 billion acquisition of US cloud communications company Vonage.
Chief executive Borje Ekholm said the company would “continue to be proactive in reviewing options to reduce costs.”
“Cost efficiency is also crucial to allow investments in technology leadership and to strengthen our resilience in an uncertain market,” Ekholm said in a statement.
He added that Ericsson was making “pricing adjustments” as inflation soars worldwide.
Ericsson reported an increase in net sales to 68 billion kronor, up from 56.3 billion kronor the year before.
