Ericsson to Book Around $2 Billion in Charges as Telecoms Business Slows--Update
March 28 2017 - 1:48PM
Dow Jones News
By Stu Woo and Dominic Chopping
Sweden's Ericsson AB said it was taking charges of between 16
billion and 21 billion Swedish kronor ($1.8 billion and $2.4
billion) this year in its latest attempt to draw a line under a
costly retooling of its telecom-equipment business, amid falling
sales and fierce competition from Chinese rivals.
The supplier of wireless-communications gear said it would book
most of the charges -- between 12 billion and 15 billion Swedish
kronor -- in write-downs, restructuring costs and provisions this
quarter.
Ericsson also said it has settled on a fresh turnaround plan, to
be put in place by a streamlined management team and focused on its
core business of selling telecom equipment and services. Other
activities, including one that helps pay-TV broadcasters transmit
video, could be sold, the company said.
Detailing the charges, Ericsson said it would write down 3
billion to 4 billion kronor in the value of some of its
intellectual property, and take restructuring charges of 6 billion
to 8 billion kronor as part of an accelerating cost-reduction
program, in addition to provisions of around 7 billion to 9 billion
kronor on some large projects.
Ericsson shares dropped 2.6% on Tuesday.
Tuesday's announcement comes after many months of turmoil at the
Stockholm-based company that ousted its chief executive last July
as profit plunged. Ericsson took restructuring charges of 7.6
billion kronor last year and announced it would cut 3,000 jobs in
Sweden before reporting a slump in yearly net profit, down at 1.9
billion kronor from 13.7 billion kronor in 2015 on a 10% slide in
revenue.
Demand for cellphone towers and related equipment has slowed
since much of the world has installed the mobile-equipment
infrastructure it needs. At the same time, Ericsson faces tough
competition from longtime Finnish rival Nokia Corp. in addition to
fast-expanding Chinese suppliers Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE
Corp.
Chief Executive Börje Ekholm, who took over in October, said on
Tuesday that Ericsson would also focus on developing services for
what is known as the Internet of Things: The idea that everyday
items such as refrigerators, cars and sneakers will be connected to
the web.
The latest makeover of the company, which has around 111,000
employees world-wide, includes the stripping out of a layer of
senior management, with four senior executives to quit April 1.
Less clear is the future for Ericsson's media division, which is
the one of the world's leaders in managing video-on-demand and
digital-video-recorder, or DVR, services for cable companies.
Demand for such services is expected to slip as people shift to
watching videos from Netflix Inc. and other online providers.
Ericsson said it would consider "strategic opportunities," which
include partnerships or sales, of its media division as well as its
cloud-computing hardware business.
Write to Stu Woo at Stu.Woo@wsj.com and Dominic Chopping at
dominic.chopping@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 28, 2017 14:33 ET (18:33 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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