"We are on the right track", mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson's CEO Bert Nordberg said as he posted a surprise Q1 profit.

• Analysts eye ‘strong growth’ in Nordic telecoms

Japanese-Swedish enterprise Sony Ericsson, the world's fourth biggest mobile phone maker, posted a surprise first-quarter profit Friday after several loss-making quarters.

New successful high-end phones, such as Xperia X10 and Vivaz, helped the company to boost average selling price. Still, Sony Ericsson lost market shares during the quarter as it estimates its share of the global handset market to 4 percent, one percentage point lower than in the previous quarter.

The company -- a joint venture established 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson -- reported a net profit of 21 million euro, compared with a 293 million euro loss a year earlier. Analysts had forecast a 128 million euro loss.

The surprise profit was helped by new product launches and higher margins following previous cost cuts.

"Increases in both gross and operating margins show that we are on the right track to build the correct cost structure for our business organization and strategy. We will continue to work through the transformation programme to ensure that we are competitive", Bert Nordberg, President, Sony Ericsson commented.

Gross margin swelled to 31 percent from 8 percent a year earlier while operating margin grew to 1 percent from negative 21 percent.

The Japanese-Swedish firm hasn't made a net profit since the second quarter 2008.

Sony Ericsson was in the fourth quarter the world's fourth largest handset maker by market share after Nokia, Samsung and LG Electronics, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.