The Ericsson logo is seen at the Ericsson's headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Olof Swahnberg
(Reuters) -Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly earnings on Tuesday and played down the impact of U.S. tariffs.
Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) excluding restructuring charges were 15.4 billion Swedish crowns ($1.62 billion) in the quarter ended in September. That was 9.2% higher than the 14.1 billion crowns forecast in an Infront consensus poll of analysts provided by the company.
Cost savings and a dominant position in North America have helped Ericsson stay ahead of Nordic rival Nokia in the 5G race, but revenue weakness and tariffs have overshadowed its outlook.
The Swedish group has outperformed rivals in winning U.S. contracts, mainly a $14 billion deal with AT&T, making it the world's second-biggest vendor in the radio access network market after Huawei, according to estimates from research firm Dell'Oro.
"No company is immune to tariffs. So we will see what happens there and what decisions are coming. But what we see so far is not more impact going forward," Ericsson's finance chief Lars Sandström said in a Reuters interview.
Third-quarter net sales were 9% down from a year ago at 56.2 billion crowns but came in above the analysts' expectation of 55.7 billion.
However, sales in Americas slowed down by 8% from 2024, as previous deliveries and network investments by large customerscontributed to a strong quarter in the same period last year.
In August, Ericsson completed the sale of its Iconectiv business, resulting in a one-off profit gain of about 7.6 billion Swedish crowns. The company said this divestment will offer scope for higher dividends and or a share buyback program.
Alongside its earnings, the Swedish company Ericsson announced a five-year partnership with Vodafone to modernize the operator's programmable networks. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
($1 = 9.4988 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Agnieszka Olenska; Editing by Matt Scuffham)
