STOCKHOLM: The world's leading mobile phone network equipment supplier Ericsson of Sweden on Thursday said its first-quarter net profits were down by 30 percent compared to the same period last year.

In the period from January to March, the company posted a net profit of 1.8 billion kronor (171 millions euros, 227 million dollars), down from 2.6 billion kronor in the first quarter of 2008.

Despite the fall, Ericsson beat analysts' expectations, who forecast a net profit of 1.65 billion kronor in a survey by Dow Jones Newswires.

The company's operating profit fell 49 percent to 1.7 billion kronor, compared to 3.5 billion for the same period last year.

Sales were up five percent to 49.6 billion kronor from 44.1 billion kronor.

"The effects of the global economic recession on the global mobile network market are so far limited," Ericsson's chief executive Carl-Henric Svanberg said in a statement.

"It remains difficult to more precisely predict how operators will act in the current environment," he added.

Ericsson wants to make annual savings of 10 billion kronor by the second half of 2010, a goal which Svanberg described as "running according to plan."

In January, the company announced 5,000 job cuts in a bid to cut costs.

Ericsson employed 76,900 people worldwide at the end of March, half of which are based in western Europe.