Nokia posts €1bn loss

BY AGENCIES

NOKIA, the struggling mobile phone maker, has reported a fourth-quarter net loss of €1.07bn (£897m) with sales tumbling 21pc.

The loss compares with a profit of €745m in the same quarter last year and comes as the company attempts a comeback with a Windows smartphones that has just hit markets in Europe and Asia.

Nokia is fighting to regain the No.1 position in the global cell phone market it lost when it failed to grasp the potential of smartphones and lost out to Android phones and iPhones.

In November the company launched the Lumia 710 and Lumia 800 in Europe and Asia, while T-Mobile started offering the 710 in the US in January.

Stephen Elop, the Nokia chief executive, said "well over" 1m had been sold since their launch - in line with company expectations.

"From this beachhead ... you will see us push forward with the sales, marketing and successive product introductions necessary to be successful," he said.

"We also plan to bring the Lumia series to additional markets including China and Latin America in the first half of 2012."

Net revenue, including its mobile phones and network divisions, fell from €12.6bn in the fourth quarter of 2010 to €10bn, with smartphone sales plunging 23pc.

The company has billed 2012 as a "year of transition" and as a result would not provide annual targets.

However, it does expect operating margins in the first quarter to be "about break-even, ranging either above or below by approximately 2 percentage points".

Nokia shares jumped more than 5pc on the Helsinki Stock Exchange after the results were released.