Stockholm - Swedish telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson's pre-tax income for the third quarter 2008 grew 10 per cent while sales increased 13 per cent, the group said Monday.

Pre-tax income was 6.2 billion kronor (836 million dollars), compared to 5.6 billion kronor in the corresponding business period in 2007, the company reported, adding that operating profit was basically flat at 5.7 billion kronor.

The group reported 49.2 billion kronor in sales for the quarter.

The report had originally been scheduled for release on Friday.

Stockholm - Sweden has no immediate plans to stage a referendum on introducing the joint European currency, the euro, leading cabinet members said Friday.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt touched on the euro in speeches at a conference organized by their conservative Moderate Party, the main force in Sweden's ruling four- party coalition.

Both Reinfeldt and Bildt supported introducing the euro in 2003, but the proposal was rejected by voters in a referendum.

Reinfeldt noted that his party had agreed to respect the outcome of the 2003 referendum for a decade, suggesting that the issue was not due until earliest 2013.

Stockholm - Swedish King Carl Gustaf was criticized Friday for saying that he supported culling the wolf population.

"We have to cull the wolf population, otherwise it will explode," the moanrch told Swedish television news during a moose hunt on Thursday.

"They eat a lot, that is a fact," the king added.

The remarks were welcomed by the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management, but were criticized by, among others, the conservation movement WWF.

The king has been chairman of the Swedish branch of the WWF since 1988.

Stockholm - Mobile telephone maker Sony Ericsson on Friday posted a loss for third quarter 2008, citing "challenging business conditions".

The group posted a pre-tax loss of 23 million euros (30 million dollars) for the quarter, compared to a pre-tax profit of 384 million euros for the corresponding business period in 2007.

Group turnover was 2.8 billion euros, down 10 per cent on third- quarter 2007, the joint venture between Japan's Sony and Sweden's Ericsson said.

Sony Ericsson said it sold 25.7 million handsets in the quarter, flat year on year, but slightly up compared to the 24.4 million handsets sold during the second quarter 2008.

Stockholm - A Swedish lawyer Thursday said he doubted claims by the US military alleging that they have killed a non-Iraqi individual who was the second-in-command of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

A US military statement on Wednesday said that the body of Abu Qaswarah, also known as Abu Sara, was positively identified after an October 5 raid in the northern-Iraqi city of Mosul.

Moroccan-born Abu Qaswarah also had Swedish citizenship.

The Swedish Security Service said they had been aware of the 43- year-old, who had been suspected, but never charged, of being active in militant Islamist groups in Sweden.

Stockholm - Sweden is set to establish a fund to help banks that run into problems in future, Financial Markets Minister Mats Odell said Tuesday.

The Swedish National Debt Office was to manage the fund that was to be financed by the state and banking sector. The aim was to "stabilize" the bank sector and ensure lower mortgage rates, Odell told reporters.