Nokia posts stronger H2 after Q1 comparable profit grows less than expected

Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia reported on Thursday a smaller-than-expected rise in quarterly profit as sales tumbled because operators bought less 5G technology, but said it expected a sales pick-up this year.
 

A fall in demand for 5G equipment in North America, the largest market for Nokia and rival Ericsson, and market share losses in China have forced both to temper expectations and lay off thousands of employees to shed costs.
 

The Finnish group posted a first-quarter operating profit, excluding certain items of income and expenses, and helped by cost cuts, of 597 million euros, up from a year-earlier 479 million, as constant-currency sales fell 19 per cent.
 

Four analysts polled by LSEG had on average forecast a 663 million euro profit.
 

CEO Pekka Lundmark said an improvement in order intake seen late last year continued in the first quarter despite a persistent challenging business environment.
 

"While we are conscious of the broader economic environment, considering the ongoing order intake strength, we expect Network Infrastructure will return to net sales growth for full year 2024 with a stronger second half performance," he said.
 

Sales at the Network Infrastructure division fell 26 per cent, measured in local currencies as well as net.
 

For the Mobile Networks division, which saw local-currency sales tumble 37 per cent, he said Nokia expects demand to pick up the rest of the year.
 

Nokia in January forecast a demand recovery in the second half of 2024. Ericsson on Tuesday said its sales would normalise in the second half.
 

Nokia on Thursday repeated an outlook given in January for a comparable operating profit in 2024 of 2.3-2.9 billion euros.

"We remain confident in a stronger second half and achieving our full year outlook," Lundmark said.
 

Nokia's comparable gross margin widened to 48.6 per cent from 37.7 per cent.

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