Nokia on track to beat targets in fourth quarter
By Maija Pesola
Published: December 11 2001 10:56 | Last Updated: December 11 2001 11:51
Nokia, the world's largest mobile handset manufacturer, gave global stock markets a lift on Tuesday after it said it was on track to meet, and possibly beat, its earnings targets for the fourth quarter.
The Finnish company said that following record sales in October and November, it was on track for fourth-quarter earnings per share at the upper end of, or above, the E0.18-E0.20 range it forecast earlier this year.
Following a global slowdown, Nokia had warned earlier this year that fourth-quarter earnings would fall to between E0.18 and E0.20, down from E0.25 in the same period last year, when mobile phone sales reached record levels.
The renewed confidence in targets comes as the company begins to benefit from a range of new internet enabled mobile phones that have recently gone onto the market.
Nokia said price competition in the industry had stabilised and inventories had returned to normal levels.
Shares in Nokia, which have already seen strong gains since September 11, were lifted a further 3.5 per cent to E28.40 on Tuesday following the news. Swedish rival Ericsson rose 2.4 per cent, while Alcatel of France was 2.5 per cent higher, and Siemens, the German technology group added 1.8 per cent.
Nokia confirmed that it was expecting overall sales to grow 20 per cent from the E7.1bn it recorded last quarter, although it would be below the E9.3bn in the fourth quarter of last year.
Sales in the handset division were expected to grow 25 per cent from the third quarter, and be flat year-on-year. The networks division would also show sequential sales growth, but would be 20 per cent below last year's revenue levels.
The company, which makes more than one third of all mobile handsets sold worldwide, also confirmed that global handset sales volumes would be between 105m and 110m units in the fourth quarter.
Nokia added that it expected to gain market share in the handsets business in the fourth quarter. The company has previously indicated that it is targetting a 40 per cent share of this market. |
