First quarter highlights
- Sales were SEK 48.9 (43.4) b. Sales adjusted for comparable units and currency increased by 7% driven by strong growth in North America. Reported sales grew by 13%.
- Gross margin was 38.4% (34.2%) driven by improvements in Networks and Managed Services.
- Operating income was SEK 4.9 (-0.3) b. and operating margin was 10.0% (-0.7%). Operating income, excluding restructuring charges of SEK -0.2 b. and certain positive non-recurrent items[1] of SEK 1.6 b. was SEK 3.5 b., which equals to an operating margin of 7.2%.
- Net income improved to SEK 2.4 (-0.7) b.
- Free cash flow excluding M&A was SEK 4.1 (0.7) b. Net cash amounted to SEK 36.1 (35.6) b.
- 51% of MediaKind was divested February 1, 2019. The acquisition of antenna and filter assets from Kathrein is expected to close Q3.
Comments from Börje Ekholm, President and CEO of Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC)
For the third consecutive quarter we showed organic sales growth, this quarter by 7%. Growth was mainly driven by North America. Our strategy, to work with lead customers in lead markets, is generating both 5G business and hands-on experience in 5G rollout and commercialization. To date we have publicly announced commercial 5G deals with 18 named operator customers, which, at the moment, is more than any other vendor.
5G services, including mobility, have been launched in South Korea and North America. While Switzerland has released spectrum allowing Swisscom to offer commercial 5G services, using our equipment, the development in other parts of Europe is considerably slower primarily due to lack of spectrum, poor investment climate and additional uncertainties related to future vendor market access.
Find the complete report with tables here.
