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The company will also be hit by a sizable tax bill, as a result of changes in US tax legislation
Ericsson has announced that it will write down $1.8 billion (SEK14.2 billion) as it prepares to release its whole year figures for 2017. The write down will be booked in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Ericsson is also being hit with a $125 million tax bill, due to recent changes in US tax legislation.
Ericsson has endured a tumultuous few years, and has seen its share price half over the past 36 months. Over this period Ericsson’s board of directors has had to issue a number of profit warnings to its shareholders.
The biggest write downs came from business units associated with cloud computing and digital media. Digital services booked an $880 million charge, whilst digital media accounted for $832 million of the write down.
Ericsson’s shares are currently trading at SEK 56.12 ($6.97) per share on the Stockholm stock exchange. As recently as March 2015, Ericsson’s shares were trading at SEK108.40 ($13.47) per share.
In the third quarter of 2017, Ericsson announced net losses of $547 million (SEK4.4 billion). The company will publish its full year results for 2017 at the end of January.
