Ericsson books $3b impairment

STOCKHOLM, Oct 13 (Reuters): Ericsson on Wednesday announced a 32 billion Swedish crown ($2.9 billion) impairment charge related to its acquisition last year of Vonage, and said core profits fell in the third quarter as demand tumbled in North America.

The Swedish telecom gear maker bought Vonage in a $6.2 billion deal.

"The impairment is as consequence of the significant drop in the market capitalisation of Vonage's publicly traded peers, increased interest rates and overall slowdown in Vonage's core markets," it said in a statement.

"The impairment charge represents 50 per cent of the total amount of goodwill and other intangible assets attributed to Vonage."

Ericsson said a preliminary reading showed its operating profit before amortisation and restructuring and impairment charges fell 39 per cent in the third quarter to 4.7 billion crowns.