Helsinki: Wireless equipment maker Ericsson says it was hit by sluggish broadband demand in North America, with first-quarter net profit falling 14 per cent to 1.5 billion crowns (Dh634 million, $173 million), while global sales grew. The Swedish company’s revenue increased 13 per cent to 53.5 billion crowns ($6.2 billion) in the period, driven by strong demand in India and North East Asia. CEO Hans Vestberg says Ericsson will continue “to proactively identify efficiency opportunities,” and announced 850 new job cuts in Sweden, bringing the total to more than 3,000. He said a 9-billion-kronor savings program would be fully implemented by 2017. Ericsson said Thursday that despite low broadband growth, consumer demand and mobile data traffic growth continues to be strong in North America, with “further need for quality and capacity investments”.