(AOF) – Nokia shares gained 6.71% to 3.38 euros following the announcement of a less sharp drop than expected in the Finnish telecom equipment manufacturer’s quarterly results. The latter had experienced a difficult end to the year following the loss of a major contract with the American telecoms operator AT&T, which forced it to issue a warning on its results. Like its Swedish competitor last week, Nokia revealed higher margins than expected thanks to an increased proportion of software – very profitable – in its revenues.
Such profitable software
Over the last three months of the year, the comparable operating profit of the telecom equipment manufacturer fell by 27% to 846 million euros, showing a margin of 14.8%, down 70 basis points. over a year. However, it was expected at only 13.1% by consensus.
“The comparable operating margin of the mobile networks sector was 11.4% and 27% above consensus, thanks to the improvement of the product mix in favor of software and to cost control,” underlines UBS.
The group’s sales fell 23% to 5.7 billion euros. They fell by 21% at constant exchange rate. The market was targeting 6.27 billion euros.
In the fourth quarter, the environment remained difficult, but the group cites signs of stabilization with improving order trends.
This year, the sector has been faced with a drop in orders for 5G for the very profitable American market and a slowdown in the Indian market.
Nokia forecasts for 2024 a comparable operating profit of between 2.3 and 2.9 billion euros and a conversion of free cash flow from comparable operating profit of between 30% and 60%.
© 2024 Agence Option Finance (AOF) – All reproduction rights reserved by AOF. AOF collects its data from the sources it considers the safest. However, the reader remains solely responsible for their interpretation and use of the information made available to them. The reader must therefore hold AOF and its contributors harmless from any claim resulting from this use. Agence Option Finance (AOF) is a brand of the Option Finance group
Did you like this article ? Share it with your friends using the buttons below.
