Slow but steady improvement in Ericsson’s financial performance was overshadowed, as it announced its third quarter results, by corrupt business practices dating back to 2007. These have led to the firing of 50 employees and are likely to result in a fine from the US Justice Department, CEO Börje Ekholm told analysts. He said the Swedish company had found evidence of corruption during an internal investigation and reported those findings to authorities. The scandal allegedly involves senior executives in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Ericsson has not made a provision for likely fines as it does not know how large these will be. But the admissions cast a shadow over its first profitable quarter since June 2016. Since…