STOCKHOLM - World number one cellphone manufacturer Ericsson forecast only 'moderate' growth in 2006, despite delivering robust Q4 2005 results
Ceo Carl-Henric Svanberg, said that consolidation in western Europe would lead to "a softer period [for demand] for the next year or so."
A weak performance in western Europe, where sales fell 4%, was offset by strength elsewhere in the world. In the three months to December 31, sales rose 16% to SKr45.7 billion ($6.01bn; €4.94bn; £3.37bn), versus SKr39.4bn for the same period in 2004.
Net income rose to SKr8.5bn from SKr5.6bn, although pricing pressure on new contracts contributed to a fall in gross margins from 45.6% to 4%.
Full-year revenues rose 15% to SKr152bn, while net income jumped 39% to SKr24.3bn.
NEW YORK - Wall Street dollar gourmands drove down the price of Google stock by 16% after it emerged that the wunderkinds' latest set of earnings failed for the first time to outpace the Street's fevered expectations.
Google - which refuses to give advance guidance on earnings on the grounds that it drives companies into short-term decision making - posted proforma earnings per share of $1.54 - below the $1.76 guesstimated by the entrail-rakers.
This blip on the growth chart wiped over $20bn from Google's stock market value.
LEEDS - Chris Pilling, marketing director at Wal-Mart's British supermarket unit Asda, has quit after four years in the role. Insiders infer he had little choice in the matter. As an Asda hack put it, Pilling "felt it was time for a change".
Asda currently number two in the UK supermarket league, and hopelessly lagging pacemaker Tesco, is in imminent danger of relegation to third place by a resurgent Sainsbury's.
With a current - and fast growing - market share of 16.2%, the latter is on course to overtake Asda's 16.7% within the next six months, predicts TNS.
Pilling's responsibilites pass to brand director Richard Hodgson whose increased workload earns him the longer title of brand and marketing director.
DETROIT - Tom Kowaleski (54), vice president for global communications at General Motors will step down from the post on March 1, ostensibly to "pursue other opportunities". He claims to miss the product side of the business.
Kowaleski will be succeeded by GM retiree Steve Harris (60) who has forsaken the pruning of his roses to help the ailing auto giant back into the black..
GM's total loss for 2005 is estimated at an eye-watering $8.6 billion (€7.07bn; £4.83bn).
News Corporation-controlled UK pay-TV satellite platform BSkyB has contributed a further £390 million ($694.98m; €571.6m) to NewsCorp's cash account in the fiscal half-year to December 31.
Ceo James Murdoch also reported that the platform had grown its subscriber base to 8.1m in the same quarter - marginally ahead of target. According to Murdoch minor, Sky signed more new customers during the last three months of 2005 than at any time in the last three years.
"This year we'll push the bar further with the launch of high-definition TV and our broadband service," he boasted. And still on a high roll: "Results like these reinforce our confidence that we will achieve our goal of 10 million customers in 2010."
Data sourced from multiple origins; additional content by WARC staff
