Ericsson soars in 2006

Swedish mobile giant, Ericsson said Friday that it made a net profit in 2006 of Eur 2.9bn (£1.92bn), up 8.2 per cent on the previous year, thanks to acquisitions and strong sales. Turnover rose 17 per cent in the year, the company said.

The company said its fourth quarter profit was up 14 per cent after record earnings in the handset market with its Japanese partner, Sony. At the same time, the company warned that the market for mobile equipment may slow in 2007.

“We have concluded another successful year and see continued opportunities to outpace the market,” Ericsson’s chief executive, Henric Svanberg said in a statement. He added that he thought the company was “well positioned for 2007″, noting that costs had risen more slowly than sales.

Ericsson predicts `”mid-single digit growth” for this year in its main network market, compared with the earlier forecast of “moderate” growth.

Last month, Sony Ericsson reported that Q4 net income tripled to Eur 447m after sales of its handsets surged, boosted by its Walkman and Cybershot lines. That meant the contribution from Sony Ericsson was about 2bn kronor (£0.15bn) on Ericsson’s pretax profit in the quarter.