Nokia results ring in healthy numbers
Operators' stronger than expected spending pays off for vendor
Nokia beat its own sales and profit guidance during the fourth quarter of 2003, according to the networking vendor.
It cited stronger than expected spending by mobile network operators on infrastructure at the end of 2003.
"This is the best quarter the industry - in its broadest sense - has had this millennium. These numbers are consistent with what the industry is reporting," said Steve Brazier, chief executive of research firm Canalys.
"With the euro strong, and a share price recovery, large multinationals are becoming more confident."
Nokia's turnover topped €1.7bn, compared with the firm's forecast of €1.4bn, while the company's handset division sales were up by four per cent year on year to €7bn.
Jorma Ollila, chief executive of Nokia, said: "The strong seasonal development in both Nokia Mobile Phones and Nokia Networks exceeded even our expectations.
"Nokia Networks' results were impacted by stronger than expected year-end operator investments and product mix which resulted in much stronger than expected sales and much stronger than expected operating profits."
Brazier said Nokia Networks' customers ran to about 100 companies. "They're service providers which spend money on mobile infrastructure," he said.
"In March 2000, many cut capital expenditure. Now their networks are running over capacity, and they need to upgrade."
Operators are also rolling out third-generation networks on a larger scale. But despite positive sales of GPRS, operators in the UK have failed to open up to enterprise resellers.
The appliances part of Nokia Networks, which contained secure socket layer accelerators and Check Point firewalls, was spun out into Nokia Enterprise Solutions last year, along with other elements from the firm's mobile handset and ventures divisions. Enterprise Solutions will begin reporting this quarter.
Nokia will release the results officially on 22 January.