Shares in L M Ericsson Telefon AB jumped 4.4% in Stockholm yesterday after the company announced a storming 81% increase in pre-tax profit for 1994 – figures opposite. The figures exceeded Ericsson’s own forecasts as sales accelerated in the cellular telephony market. Sales and new orders were surprisingly strong, the company said, with mobile telephony sales up 73%, faster than the growth in the market and over half of all business. Our invoicing is up 100% and the market only grew by 60% cent last year so someone is losing market share, chief executive Lars Ramqvist told Reuters. Ericsson is the world’s third biggest seller of cellular telephones after Motorola Inc and Nokia Oy, but is number one in cellular switching systems. More than 60% of billing represents products that were not on the market three years ago, the company said, adding that it expects 1995 profits to develop positively, although it gave no firm forecast. The company plans a one-for-four share split later this year, the first since 1990. There had been some rumours about the possibility of a rights issue or losses in the US that had pushed the share price down before the announcement. Now we can see the forecast has been met, said one Stockholm equities analyst. The company said fourth-quarter sales continued to accelerate.
