Mubasher: Ericsson on Friday announced narrowing its losses to SEK 837.0 million ($99.18 million) in the first three months of 2018 from SEK 10.07 billion ($1.20 billion) in the same period of 2017.

The telecommunications equipment manufacturer also posted a 9% year-on-year decline in sales to SEK 43.41 billion ($5.14 billion) in Q1-18.

"We have continued to execute on our focused business strategy...Our efforts to improve efficiency in service delivery and common costs are starting to pay off," commented CEO Borje Ekholm after the results.

Meanwhile analysts, via FactSet, had expected the loss to reach SEK 1.74 billion ($210 million) and had projected sales of SEK 43.54 billion ($5.16 billion) for Q1-18.

Since July, the Swedish equipment maker laid off nearly 18,000, with 3,000 jobs being cut in Q1-18 alone.

The manufacturer’s cost savings have now achieved a run-rate value of SEK 8.5 billion ($1.007 billion), compared with a SEK 10 billion ($1.19 billion) for mid-2018.

On a side note, Ericsson said it had allocated additional investments to its networks unit in order to shift its products to fifth generation technology (5G). This has resulted in higher profit margins and an increased stake in the market.