STOCKHOLM – Sweden’s Ericsson (BS) was under criticism for handling a bribery inquiry in Iraq. The company reported a decline in its first quarter core earnings on Thursday. It blamed a delay recording a large-scale software contract, and a provision relating to the suspension of Russian business.

From 5.3 billion in a year, the company’s adjusted quarterly operating earnings dropped to 4.7 billion Swedish Crowns (497.16 millions)

According to Refinitiv data, the 6.63 billion forecast does not include 0.9 billion Crowns of Provision announced earlier in this week regarding Russia.