STOCKHOLM, October 22, 2009 (AFP) - Telecom equipment giant Ericsson reported Thursday worse-than-expected third quarter results, with a 74 percent fall in net profit blamed on falling sales and problems at its Sony Ericsson venture.

Ericsson, the world number one mobile network firm, said net profit in the three months to September fell to 810 million kroner (79 million euros, $120 million), well below analyst forecasts for 1.64 billion kroner compiled by Dow Jones Newswire.

The company's shares tumbled 6.2 percent as a result on the Stockholm market, which was down 1.3 percent overall.

Sales fell 6.0 percent from a year earlier to 46.4 billion kroner, Ericsson said, hit by difficult market conditions, but margins remained steady.

"The economic climate continues to affect the telecom infrastructure market and credit supply remains difficult in several emerging markets.

"However, other markets, including the major economies such as China, India, the United States and Japan are developing well," Ericsson said in a statement.

Ericsson has suffered from the difficulties at Sony-Ericsson and at ST-Ericsson, a joint venture with ST Micro, which together chalked up charges, mostly for restructuring, of 1.5 billion kroner in the third quarter.

The company, which announced 5,000 job losses at the end of last year, said its cost cutting program was ahead of plan.