Ericsson, the mobile telephone maker, has dropped out of the single-A ratings band on the same day that it named a new chairman and posted poor third-quarter results.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Ericsson's long-term credit rating to Baa1 from A3. The news came as the Swedish company said that it has hired Michael Treschow, the president and chief executive officer of Electrolux, the home appliances manufacturer, as chairman. He will replace Lars Ramqvist, who announced that Ericsson had lost almost Skr6bn (€0.6bn) in the third quarter.