Ericsson’s fourth quarter, sales reached 57.2 SEK billion, drop of 12 per cent.
If adjusted for comparable units and currency, the fourth quarter sales declined by -7% YoY. For 2018, the Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment market is expected to decline by -2%, compared with estimated -8% in 2017. The Chinese market is expected to continue to decline due to reduced LTE investments, while there is positive momentum in North America.
Borje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson said, “During a challenging 2017, we have developed and started to execute on a focused strategy, strengthening our R&D while at the same time introducing robust measures to reduce cost and commercial risk. We have now laid the foundation for achieving our financial targets. The fourth quarter was in line with our overall expectation, with gradual improving performance in Networks and continued significant losses in Digital Services. The result is however far below our long-term ambition.”
“We continued to execute on efficiency improvements with a net reduction of 10,000 employees and external workforce in the quarter. To date, the annual run-rate effect of cost savings is approximately SEK 6 billion compared with the target of SEK 10 billion for mid-2018. The impact on the results in the quarter is limited, but will be increasingly visible in the first half 2018,” added Ekholm.
Segment Networks showed stable performance with the ramp-up of Ericsson Radio System (ERS), representing 71% of radio unit deliveries in the quarter, and efficiency gains in service delivery as key drivers. Networks adjusted gross margin increased to 36% (32%) YoY and the success of our 5G-ready portfolio continues.
In the quarter, Ericsson made deliveries related to our market share gain in Mainland China and we signed several break-through contracts, including with Verizon and Deutsche Telekom.
Digital Services had another challenging quarter with significant losses, mainly due to higher costs in ongoing large transformation projects. The company has identified 45 critical or non-strategic customer contracts and the plan is to complete or exit approximately half of these contracts in 2018.
The refocus of Managed Services to improve profitability is underway, with 23 out of the 42 under-performing contracts completed, resulting in an annualized profit improvement of SEK 0.5 b. As a result of these efforts, the underlying gross margin improved slightly QoQ. One-time effects and seasonality in operating expenses impacted operating income negatively.
For our Media Solutions portfolio, reported in segment Other, we have executed on a profit improvement program while continuing to invest in the product offering. This has significantly improved operating performance during the year, thereby improving our strategic flexibility as we have completed our strategic review of the business. We have evaluated various options including partnerships, divestments and continued in-house development, with the objective to maximize shareholder value.
“The focus during 2017 has been on reshaping overall strategy and on improving company structure and performance. 2017 was also the year when 5G went from vision to real business opportunities while we at the same time had good traction for our 4G portfolio. We are fully committed to our plans and our targets and expect to see tangible results of our turnaround in 2018,” added Ekholm.
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