Ericsson AB's CEO and CFO found themselves under pressure Wednesday morning following a first-quarter financial report that included lower margins, much lower profits and regional delays.The Swedish giant, still the world's largest telecom vendor, reported first-quarter revenues of 52 billion Swedish kronor (US$7.87 billion), up by 2 percent compared with a year ago. Without unfavorable currency exchange rate changes, the vendor says like-for-like sales were up by 7 percent. (See Ericsson Retains Its Crown – Barely.)While that was an improvement, most of its headline financial numbers headed in the other direction. Its gross margin was down to 32 percent from 33.3 percent a year ago (so lower than rival Nokia Siemens Networks currently), its operating margin (excluding the impact of joint ventures) plummeted to 4.1 percent compared with 20.6 percent a year ago and its net income was down by 86 percent to SEK1.2 billion ($182 million). (See NSN Maintains Momentum.) Those numbers were affected by (among other things) ongoing restructuring costs, the low margins associated with network rollout projects, a hiatus in Latin America (where operators are waiting for 4G spectrum, leaving Ericsson assets "idle") and the aforementioned currency rate changes. CEO Hans Vestberg and CFO Jan Frykhammar are sticking with the line they've held for the past year: Ericsson is laying the ground for a more profitable future by engaging in new network modernization projects that involve a lengthy initial stage of low-margin rollouts but which will be followed by higher-margin capacity expansion deals. (See Ericsson Spies Networks Payoff.)Vestberg said he couldn't recall a time when Ericsson was involved in so many network rollouts, not just in Europe, where there are a number of network modernization projects underway, but in all regions. Ultimately, "this means a lot of installed base and that's good news for Ericsson," added the CEO. But they've been talking about this trend for more than a year, so when does the tide turn to more profitable engagements? CFO Frykhammar says that will happen gradually though this year and, barring any unforeseen market changes, the margins should show signs of improvement during the second half of 2013. "When we enter into 2014 there should be no material impacts left on rollouts and it will be all upside," stated the CFO.Investors appear to be on board with this message as, despite the margin pressures, the vendor's share price was largely unchanged in trading on the Stockholm exchange. The mood will likely change, though, if the numbers aren't looking healthier by the end of 2013. The CEO and CFO had other things to talk about, though. Here are the highlights: