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Technology Stocks : Nokia (NOK) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mick Mørmøny who wrote (19650)	4/18/2002 6:13:04 AM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 34857

Nokia damps optimism with reduced sales forecast By Christopher Brown-Humes in Stockholm Published: April 18 2002 10:50 \| Last Updated: April 18 2002 11:03 <<It's MMS or bust!>> Nokia, the world's leading maker of mobile phones, dampened the more optimistic mood in the technology sector on Thursday when it cut its forecasts for sales growth for the rest of the year. The group also cut its estimates for global mobile phone sales this year to 400m-420m from an earlier 420m-440m range, citing "general weakness in all key regions." Shares in Nokia sank 7 per cent in early trading, falling E1.6 to E21.85, and reversing the gains of recent days. Nokia said it was now expecting its sales to rise by 4 to 9 per cent this year, with sales in handsets growing by 5 to 10 per cent, and systems sales by 0 to 5 per cent. In January the group forecast sales growth of 15 per cent for both handsets and systems this year. However, it continued to forecast robust margins for its handsets operations. The statement marks a return to realism for the technology sector. The mood had brightened this week following better than expected results from Motorola and Philips, as well as upbeat comments from Texas Instruments, the world's leading maker of chips for mobile phones. But there are still worries about saturated markets, delays to the roll-out of third generation mobile networks, and weaker spending by cash-strapped operators. Nokia's pro-forma sales fell 12 per cent in the first quarter to E7.0bn ($6.22bn), while pre-tax profits dropped to E1.31bn from E1.48bn. Earnings per share were better-than-expected at E0.19, although the group had already indicated in March that the figure could exceed the E015-0.17 range projected at the start of the year. The group predicted second-quarter earnings per share of between E0.18 and E0.20, with sales rising by between 2 and 7 per cent. Analysts had expected higher sales growth