2014-10-23

ESPOO, Finland, Oct. 23, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — This is a summary of the Nokia Corporation Interim Report for Q3 2014 and January-September 2014 published today. The complete Interim Report with tables for Q3 2014 and January-September 2014 is available at http://company.nokia.com/financials. Investors should not rely on summaries of Nokia’s interim reports only, but should review the full interim reports with tables.

FINANCIAL AND OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS

Third quarter 2014 highlights:

- Non-IFRS diluted EPS in Q3 2014 of EUR 0.09 (EUR 0.06 in Q3 2013); reported diluted EPS of EUR 0.19 (EUR 0.04 in Q3 2013)

- Net sales in Q3 2014 of EUR 3.3 billion (EUR 2.9 billion in Q3 2013)

Nokia Networks

- Nokia Networks achieved 13% year-on-year growth in net sales, from EUR 2.6 billion in Q3 2013 to EUR 2.9 billion in Q3 2014.

- In Q3 2014, Nokia Networks achieved strong underlying operating profitability with non-IFRS operating profit of EUR 397 million, or 13.5% of net sales, compared to EUR 217 million, or 8.4% of net sales, in Q3 2013.

- The strong net sales and profitability improvement of Nokia Networks on a year-on-year basis was primarily due to major new LTE network deployments in North America and Greater China, which benefitted Mobile Broadband.

HERE

- HERE achieved 12% year-on-year growth in net sales, from EUR 211 million in Q3 2013 to EUR 236 million in Q3 2014.

- In Q3 2014, HERE sold map data licenses for the embedded navigation systems of 3.2 million new vehicles globally, compared to 2.6 million vehicles in Q3 2013.

Nokia Technologies

- Nokia Technologies achieved 9% year-on-year growth in net sales, from EUR 140 million in Q3 2013 to EUR 152 million in Q3 2014, primarily due to Microsoft becoming a more significant intellectual property licensee.

Commenting on the third quarter results on a year-on-year basis, Rajeev Suri, Nokia President and CEO, said:

Nokia’s third quarter results demonstrate our strong position in a world where technology is undergoing significant change. We saw growth in all three of our businesses; non-IFRS earnings per share was up 50%; and we moved forward with our capital structure optimization program, returning cash to shareholders.

Performance at Nokia Networks was particularly satisfying, with both growth and improved profitability. Progress was widespread, with four of our six regions increasing sales; Mobile Broadband sales and profitability were up sharply; Global Services delivered its sixth consecutive quarter of double digit profitability; and I was pleased to see a rebound in Europe driven by our robust deal momentum. That said, I also want to be clear that Networks benefited from some unique developments in the quarter, with a business mix weighted towards Mobile Broadband and regional mix that included strong gains in North America.

HERE also delivered a double digit sales increase in the quarter. We are sharpening HERE’s strategy in order to better balance growth and profitability while ensuring relentless focus on priority segments such as automotive. I am confident that this strategy, combined with a new focus on efficiency gains, positions HERE well for the future.

Nokia Technologies continued to invest in the innovation and business infrastructure necessary to enable future growth and renewal of our strong patent portfolio. This work, as well as our current licensing activities, will take time to come to fruition, but I believe that we are moving rapidly in the right direction.

Third quarter 2014 material special items:

- In Q3 2014, we recorded a charge to operating profit of EUR 1.2 billion for the impairment of HERE goodwill. The impairment charge is based on our estimate that the recoverable amount of HERE is now EUR 2.0 billion. During Q3 2014, we also recognized a non-cash tax expense of EUR 0.3 billion due to valuation allowances related to HERE’s Dutch deferred tax assets.

- At the end of Q3 2014, due to improved operating performance, Nokia recognized EUR 2.1 billion of deferred tax assets from the reassessment of recoverability of deferred tax assets related to Finland and Germany, of which EUR 2.0 billion was recorded as a non-cash tax benefit in Q3 2014 reported tax expenses.

Balance sheet highlights:

(C) Copyright 2014 GlobeNewswire, Inc. All rights reserved.

Article source

Show more