In its recently-reported fourth quarter results, telecoms equipment maker Ericsson said that its net income, excluding loss-making joint ventures and restructuring costs, dropped a substantial 82 percent to 0.7 billion Swedish kronor, or 0.1 kronor per share, from the same quarter year before figure of 4.1 billion kronor, or 1.21 kronor per share.

With the year 2009 largely being a rather difficult one for network gear makers, due to the recession-induced reining in of spending by telecoms operators, the plunge in Ericsson’s net income is quite in line with the analysts’ forecasts of 0.83 kronor per share earnings.

According to SEB Enskilda, the 2009 second-half witnessed networks’ sales being impacted by a decline in operator spending in some markets; because of which net sales at Ericsson tumbled
13 percent – from 67.0 billion kronor to 58.3 billion kronor from, with net sales for comparable units plunging 16 percent.

However, with the global economic recovery taking root, this year’s outlook for the network market is quite optimistic. Still, a strong rebound in networks cannot be expected in the near future, and most analysts opine that growth would likely be delayed until next year.

Nonetheless, Ericsson’s president and CEO Hans Vestberg, hoping a turnaround for the better this year, said: “We maintained market shares well in all segments, cash flow was good and our financial position is strong.”