Nokia Slips To Loss In Q4, Sales Weak; Sees Challenging Q1; To Buy Back EUR 600 Mln Shares

(RTTNews) - Finnish network company Nokia Corp. (NOK) reported Thursday that its fourth-quarter loss was 33 million euros, compared to prior year's profit of 3.15 billion euros.

Loss per share was 0.01 euro, compared to profit of 0.56 euro a year ago.

The latest result was impacted by an operating model change that led to non-cash remeasurement of deferred tax assets.

Comparable profit for the period was 568 million euros, compared to prior year's 929 million euros. Comparable earnings per share were 0.10 euro, compared to 0.16 euro last year.

Net sales fell 23 percent to 5.71 billion euros from 7.45 billion euros a year earlier. Net sales declined 21 percent in constant currency.

Further, the Board proposed dividend authorization of 0.13 euro per share and initiated two year 600 million euros buyback program.

Looking ahead, the company said it expects the challenging environment of 2023 to continue during the first half of 2024, particularly in the first quarter.

Nokia expects full-year 2024 comparable operating profit of between 2.3 billion euros and 2.9 billion euros and free cash flow conversion from comparable operating profit of between 30 percent and 60 percent. The 2023 comparable operating profit was 2.38 billion euros.

Further, for fiscal 2026, the company projects net sales to grow faster than the market, and comparable operating margin of at least 13 percent, which was revised down recently.

Nokia still expects at least 14% target remains achievable over the longer term.

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