NSN shows operational improvement in Q4 as Nokia continues to face challenges

Nokia has reported a profit attributable to shareholders of €202 million (US$272 million) for Q412 to the end of December, compared with a prior-year loss of €1.07 billion, on revenue of €8.04 billion, down 20 per cent year-on-year.

In its core Devices & Services unit, the company saw an operating profit of €276 million, up 36 per cent year-on-year, on revenue of €3.85 billion, down 36 per cent.

Its mobile device volume of 86.3 million units was down 24 per cent year-on-year from 113.5 million, due to drop-offs in both its smartphone shipments (6.6 million units, down 66 per cent) and its mass market terminals (79.6 million, down 15 per cent).

At Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), there was a Q4 operating profit of €251 million, up 275 per cent year-on-year, on revenue of €3.99 billion, up five per cent.

For the full year, Nokia Group saw a net loss of €3.11 billion, compared to a prior-year loss of €1.16 billion, on sales of €30.18 billion, down from €38.66 billion.

Devices & Services saw a full year operating loss of €1.1 billion, compared with a prior-year profit of €884 million, on net sales which fell 34 per cent to €15.69 billion.

Mobile device volume for the full year was 335.6 million, down 20 per cent from 417.1 million, with a drop-off of 55 per cent in smartphone shipments (to 35.1 million) and a 12 per cent drop in mass-market terminals (to 300.5 million).

NSN saw a full year operating loss of €799 million, compared with a €300 million loss in the prior year, on sales of €13.78 billion, down two per cent from €14.04 billion.

Nokia’s net cash position improved by €800 million sequentially, of which €650 million was generated by NSN, though it announced it would not be making a dividend payment to investors for 2012 (for the first time in at least 143 years), helping it “ensure strategic flexibility,” and further solidify its “strong liquidity position.”

The company’s guidance for the current quarter was muted, due to the continued competitive environment in the mobile device market, seasonal weakness, and macroeconomic conditions.