By Supantha Mukherjee

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s Ericsson on Tuesday reported first-quarter core earnings that beat expectations as stronger sales of 5G equipment in countries such as India offset lower sales in high-margin countries.

The company’s quarterly adjusted operating earnings, excluding restructuring, fell to 4 billion Swedish crowns ($386.77 million) from 4.8 billion crowns a year earlier, beating analysts’ mean forecast of 3.28 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

Ericsson, which announced plans to layoff 8,500 employees in February, has seen overall margins erode as growth now mainly comes from fiercely price competitive markets such as India rather than high-margin markets like the U.S.

Its reported gross margin for the quarter fell to 38.6% from 42.3%.

However, net sales rose 14% to 62.6 billion crowns, beating estimates of 60.43 billion.

($1 = 10.3438 Swedish crowns)