ELSINKI, Finland (AP) Nokia reported a 25 per cent jump in first–quarter earnings on new demand from emerging markets, but the world’s top mobile phone maker missed expectations and gave a downbeat global forecast, sending its shares plunging.
Nokia Corp. posted a net profit of 1.2 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in the first three months of the year, up from 980 million euros during the same period in 2007.
Revenue increased 28 percent to 12.6 billion euros ($20 billion), from 9.8 billion euros a year earlier, with strong growth of handsets sales in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.
Sale volumes grew more than 40 percent in the Asia–Pacific region which overtook Europe as the company’s biggest market with 34 million units sold. That was more than a third of all Nokia’s mobile phone sales.
But the phones sold in emerging markets tend to be cheaper, pushing push down the closely watched average selling price. It fell to 79 euros ($125) in the period, from 89 euros in the same period last year and 83 euros in the previous quarter.
Nokia profits fell short of the 42 percent increase predicted by analysts polled Dow Jones Newswires. Sales growth matched expectations.
The weaker–than–expected profits, paired with a gloomy outlook for 2008, sent shares down 10 percent to 18.86 euros ($30.04).
Even though the Finnish company said it expects the global mobile phone market to grow in volume by 10 percent in 2008, it said the market would lose value in euro terms compared with 2007 because of a weak U.S. dollar, an economic slowdown in the U.S, and possibly in Europe.
Nokia changed telephone infrastructure market outlook to ’’flat,’’ from a previous estimate of ’’very slight growth.’’
cayCompass.com
