Ericsson announces major restructuring, impairments

Ericsson on Tuesday kicked off a major restructuring that includes overhauling its senior management and a strategic review of its media and IT cloud hardware divisions, as it seeks to revitalise its business. The shake-up will result in a 3 billion kronor-4 billion kronor (€314.68 million-€419.63 million) hit on operating profit, plus restructuring charges of SEK2 billion, in the first quarter alone. It is the second restructuring announced by Ericsson in the last 12 months. "For some time Ericsson has been challenged on both technology and market leadership and the group strategy has not yielded expected returns," said Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm, in a statement. Ericsson had a year to forget in 2016, as an aggressive cost-cutting programme coupled with a substantial restructuring were not enough to reverse declines in revenue and profitability…