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SONYERICSSON

Sony Erisscon beats analysts’ expectations

Sony Ericsson beat analysts' expectations for the fourth quarter of 2007 despite a drop in net income and flat pre-tax profits.

Published: 16 January 2008 10:17 CET

Pre-tax profits for the last quarter 2007 came to €501 million, comparable to results of €502 million from the previous year.

However, the world’s fourth-largest mobile handset manufacturer now estimates it controls just over 9 percent of the world market, up 2 percentage points from a year ago.

“Our target remains to become one of the top three players in the industry, and the momentum we established in 2006 and 2007 makes this a realistic ambition,” said Sony Ericsson president Dick Komiyama.

While net income dropped to €373 million from last year’s €447 million, analysts’ had expected 2007 fourth quarter profits of only €318 million.

“It’s a good report. Their margins are very strong. They have succeeded in bringing profitability up to levels they haven’t achieved earlier,” Swedbank analyst Håkan Wranne told TT.

Sony Ericsson shipped 30.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2007, up 18 percent from the previous year.

Gross margins increased from 29.0 percent to 31.8 percent over the same time period.

However, the average sales price per unit (ASP) dropped over the same period from €146 to €123 per handset, reflecting the larger proportion of lower priced handsets in the company’s overall portfolio.

The company reported gross revenues of €3.77 billion for the quarter in comparison with 2006 fourth quarter revenues of €3.78 billion.

SONY

Ericsson profits double on sale of Sony stake

The Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson posted Wednesday a first quarter net profit that was more than double the level recorded a year earlier, owing to a major one-off divestment.

Published: 25 April 2012 10:18 CEST
Ericsson profits double on sale of Sony stake

The world leader in mobile telephone networks also said sales had fallen by four percent to 50.97 billion kronor ($7.6 billion), while operating profit excluding the sale of its half the joint venture Sony Ericsson was 56 percent lower at 2.8 billion.

Net profit leapt however by 116 percent to 8.8 billion kronor thanks to a 7.7 billion kronor contribution from the sale of a 50-percent stake in Sony Ericsson, a statement said.

Meanwhile, “sales of high-performance mobile broadband developed well in North America, Japan and Korea, while other regions such as Europe including Russia, parts of Middle East and India were weaker,” chief executive Hans Vestberg said.

Cheuvreux analyst Odon De Laporte highlighted an increase in Ericsson’s gross margin since the fourth quarter of 2011.

Gross margin is the percent of total sales that a company retains after taking into account the cost of their production and associated services.

“Sure, the report shows there is low activity, especially for the network division, but seeing the gross margin bouncing back is definitely a relief,” Laporte was quoted by Dow Jones Newswires as saying.

Ericsson’s gross margin climbed to 33.3 percent in the first three months of the year, from 30.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, but remained below the 2011 first quarter level of 38.5 percent.

On February 16, Sony said it had finalised the acquisition of Ericsson’s share of their mobile telephone joint venture Sony Ericsson, which was renamed Sony Mobile Communications.

The transaction, which had a total value of 1.05 billion euros, included patents and licenses.

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