- Today Ericsson holds its Annual General Meeting 2020 and will
propose to have the meeting available via live webcast
- Given the Coronavirus crisis, shareholders are encouraged to
follow the meeting online
- Speeches by Chair of the Board Ronnie Leten, President and CEO
Börje Ekholm and Chief Compliance Officer Laurie Waddy are now published on Ericsson's web
site
STOCKHOLM, March 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Due to the
Coronavirus crisis, Ericsson's (NASDAQ: ERIC) Annual General
Meeting 2020 (AGM) is changed in scope. To enable shareholders to
follow the meeting remotely, Ericsson will propose to have the
meeting available via live webcast at www.ericsson.com.
The speeches by Chair of the Board Ronnie Leten, President and
CEO Börje Ekholm and Chief Compliance Officer Laurie Waddy are pre-recorded and available on
www.ericsson.com.
Speaking to Ericsson shareholders, Börje Ekholm summarizes what
was a strong year for Ericsson, outlines what lays ahead and also
comments on the current Coronavirus crisis.
Ericsson's response to the Corona crisis
Ekholm says: "Our top priority at the moment is the health and
safety of our employees, customers, and other stakeholders. So far,
we have not seen any material impact on our business, but we are
closely following the developments in society."
Further, Ekholm highlights the importance of communication in
times of a crisis and that Ericsson works closely with its
customers to make sure they can offer the best possible
connectivity.
Strategy execution
Ekholm continues by summarizing Ericsson's key achievement
during 2019.
Ekholm says: "Last year we talked about switching on 5G
globally. Today, we can say that we have succeeded. The world's
first 5G network was launched with Ericsson's technology and the
same was true for the first network in Europe."
He continues: "Right now we have 86 commercial 5G agreements and
27 live networks in 4 continents. Ericsson is leading the 5G
development. I see no one in front of us."
Looking ahead, Ekholm concludes that the 5G market is growing
faster than most analysts have expected and that Ericsson is well
positioned to capture this growth.
Financial position
Ekholm also discusses how the focused strategy with increased
investments in R&D has yielded results. For the first time
since 2013, Ericsson is showing organic growth and improved gross
margin and operating margin compared to 2018.
Ekholm says: "Ericsson's financial position is strong, and we
have a robust balance sheet with net cash of SEK 34 billion at the end of last year. This
allows us to continue to invest, execute on our strategy and also
provides resilience."
5G development
Börje Ekholm also talks about the technology shift that 5G will
enable. The new generation of mobile networks will not only give
rise to new areas of use for consumers, it will transform entire
industries.
Ekholm says: "We will see production automation, optimized
logistics, new solutions in healthcare and much more. And these are
only the areas we can already visualize today; most areas of use
are still unknown to us."
Technology leadership
The fact that Ericsson is leading the development of this new
technology is something to be proud of, Ekholm concludes.
He says: "Ericsson's leadership position is clearly reflected in
our patent portfolio, consisting of more than 54,000 granted
patents. However, patents are about both quality and quantity; an
independent law firm found Ericsson to have the leading share of
relevant 5G patents, which bodes very well for the future."
NOTES TO EDITORS:
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About Ericsson
Ericsson enables communications service providers to capture the
full value of connectivity. The company's portfolio spans Networks,
Digital Services, Managed Services, and Emerging Business and is
designed to help our customers go digital, increase efficiency and
find new revenue streams. Ericsson's investments in innovation have
delivered the benefits of telephony and mobile broadband to
billions of people around the world. The Ericsson stock is listed
on Nasdaq Stockholm and on Nasdaq New York. www.ericsson.com
MORE INFORMATION AT:
Ericsson Newsroom
media.relations@ericsson.com
(+46-10-719-69-92)
investor.relations@ericsson.com
(+46-10-719-00-00)
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Börje Ekholm
addresses shareholders before today’s AGM
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