Ericsson profits drops

Ericsson reports a 42% drop in 4Q07 net income to €593m, while revenues are flat at €5.8bn, but in line with analysts expectations. The operating margin was 14%, 7.5 points below last year. For the full year, sales were €19.9bn, up 4.4%. The operating income was €3.2bn, down 14%, while net income drop 17% to €2.3bn. For the year, network sales were almost flat at €13.7bn; professional services sales grew 15% to €4.5bn; and Multimedia sales were up 14% to €1.7bn. Ericsson anticipates a flattish mobile infrastructure market in 2008 and consequently would lay off 4,000 employees worldwide for cutting costs.