Ericsson: lifts 2020 targets at investor day

(CercleFinance.com) - Ericsson has raised some of its sales and profitability targets at its New York investor day on Thursday, after cost cutting led to improved performance in the third quarter.


The Swedish telecoms gear maker has increased its target for net sales to 210-220 billion Swedish kronor by 2020, from 190-200 billion Swedish kronor previously, mainly driven by its networks division.

The unit's 2020 net sales target has been raised to 141-145 billion Swedish kronor for 2020, from 128-134 billion Swedish kronor before.

In terms of profitability, Ericsson said that its 2020 group operating margin is now expected to be between 15%-17%, as the arrival of 5G and IoT should start generating profitable growth.

Ericsson said its competitive cost structure has enabled it to grow in the third quarter, for the first time since 2014, on a constant currency basis, despite losing many contracts and businesses.

Ericsson shares are currently up 0.3%. They have risen by over 50% year-to-date.

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