Ericsson reported 4Q 2014 sales of SEK 68.0 (67.0) b., a growth of 1% YoY and 18% QoQ, but down 2% YoY when adjusted for currency exchanges. The sales growth YoY was mainly driven by the Middle East, Europe and Asia, offset by sales decline in North America. Operating income in the fourth quarter improved YoY, primarily driven by higher software sales and efficiency enhancements.
Some highlights from the company's quarterly report:
- Mobile broadband sales increased both YoY and QoQ thanks to existing contracts in mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, India and parts of Europe. In mainland China the majority of the business in the quarter was related to the continued LTE deployments.
- Sales in North America were mainly driven by operator investments in capacity and quality enhancements also this quarter, although at a slower pace.
- In North America, consumer demand and mobile data traffic growth continues to be strong in North America, but Ericsson anticipates the North American mobile broadband business to remain slow in the short-term.
- Global Services showed stable growth with momentum for professional services driven by managed services and systems integration sales. During the quarter, 17 new managed services contracts were signed, including a pan-India contract.
- Ericsson ended 2014 with 116,000 employees, up from 112,000 at the end of 2013.
http://www.ericsson.com/res/investors/docs/q-reports/2014/12month14-en.pdf
