Ericsson's profit improves but revenues drop; shares slump

• Ericsson's (NASDAQ:ERIC) Q1 EBIT rose to 2.6B Swedish kronor ($395M) from 2.1B a year earlier but missed consensus of 3.5B kronor.
• Net profit almost doubled to 2.12B kronor from 1.21B kronor.
• Operating income jumped 25% to 2.63B kronor.
• Sales dropped to 47.5B kronor from 52.03B kronor and undershot forecasts of 50.8B kronor, hurt by two major North American projects peaking in H1 2013 and by reduced activity in Japan.
• The gross margin increased to 36.5% from 32% and topped expectations of 34%.
• North America sales -23% and North East Asia -19%, although there was growth in China, the Middle East and Latin America. Western Europe was flat.
• Wins five-year project from Vodafone; terms undisclosed.
• Shares slump 5.4% in Stockholm. (PR)