hELSINKI: Finnish telecom equipment group Nokia jumped back into profit in the second quarter by focusing on its networks business, the company said yesterday, in a re-birth after losing its leading position in mobile phones.
The group, which recently sold its phone division to Microsoft, reported a net profit for the quarter of ¤2.51bn ($3.38bn), from a loss of ¤226m at the same time last year. The results surprised the market with an unexpectedly rapid recovery based on network technology.
But sales fell by nearly 7.0 percent to ¤2.942bn, although this was in line with the overall expectations of analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
The strong turnaround boosted Nokia shares which were showing a gain of 7.78 percent to 6.16 euros in mid-afternoon trading. The overall Finish stock market was ahead by 0.64 percent.
The group is focusing on its information networks expertise and on its data technologies as announced last April, when former Nokia Solutions and Networks head Rajeev Suri was appointed chief executive.
Suri, who is known in the IT business as a turnaround specialist, oversaw an increase in the value of the telecom networks business to the tune of about eight billion euros ($11bn) according to a biography published on the group’s website.
The move to strengthen the networks division coincides with a moment when mobile data traffic is surging as the world’s largest operators are investing in high-speed mobile phone equipment. Suri said in a statement yesterday that the technology networks division “has allowed us to deliver strong profitability while improving our topline trend.”
He said: “Maintaining this balance will remain a clear priority in the second half of the year when we expect networks to return to year-on-year growth.
AFP
