HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finnish telecom network equipment maker Nokia reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue and underlying profits on Thursday, buoyed by strategy revamp by new Chief Executive Officer Pekka Lundmark.
Nokia said its October-December revenue fell 5% to 6.57 billion euros ($7.89 billion), beating a consensus figure of 6.42 billion euros, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
Nokia said its October-December underlying earnings fell to 0.14 euros per share from 0.15 euros a year ago, beating the 0.11 euros consensus.
Nokia forecast 2021 revenues to fall to between 20.6 billion euros and 21.8 billion euros, from 21.9 billion in 2020, adding that underlying operating profit margin would be 7%-10%. It reached a 9.7% profit margin last year.
Lundmark took over Nokia’s top job in August after product missteps by the company saw it lag Swedish rival Ericsson and Chinese group Huawei in the race to win deals to sell 5G network equipment.
Nokia shares have seen wild swings over the last two weeks as the stock has been targeted by the retail trading frenzy, alongside Gamestop and other tech companies.
(Reporting by Tarmo Virki in Helsinki and Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm; Editing by Tom Hogue and Rashmi Aich)
