14 DAY TRIAL // On Thursday, Espoo, Finland-based mobile phone maker Nokia has unveiled its financial results for the first quarter of the ongoing year, and posted net sales of EUR 10.4 billion, and total mobile device volumes of 108.5 million units.
When compared to the same quarter a year ago, these marked a growth of 9 percent in sales, and of 1 percent in shipments, but also a decrease of 17 percent in sales and of 12 in shipments from the previous quarter.
The leading handset vendor moved a number s of 24.2 million converged mobile devices (smartphones and mobile computers) during the three-month period, marking an increase of 13 on a yearly basis, and a decrease of 14 percent sequentially.
Some highlights from the company's announcement would include:
- Devices & Services net sales of EUR 7.1 billion in Q1 2011, up 6% year-on-year and down 17% sequentially (up 1% and down 16% at constant currency). - Services net sales of EUR 211 million in Q1 2011, up 43% year-on-year and 5% sequentially; billings of EUR 338 million, up 48% year-on-year and down 4% sequentially. - Nokia mobile device ASP (including services revenue) of EUR 65 in Q1 2011, up from EUR 62 in Q1 2010 and down from EUR 69 in Q4 2010. - Devices & Services gross margin of 29.1% in Q1 2011, down from 32.4% in Q1 2010 and 29.2% in Q4 2010. - Devices & Services non-IFRS operating margin of 9.8% in Q1 2011, down from 12.1% in Q1 2010 and 11.3% in Q4 2010. - Nokia operating cash flow of negative EUR 173 million and cash generated from operations of EUR 182 million in Q1 2011. - Total cash and other liquid assets of EUR 11.1 billion and net cash and other liquid assets of EUR 6.4 billion at the end of Q1 2011.
At the same time, Nokia announced NAVTEQ net sales of EUR 232 million during the time frame, marking an increase of 23 from the first quarter of the last year, and a 25 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2010.
Nokia Siemens Networks posted net sales of EUR 3.2 billion for the first quarter of 2011, up 17 percent on a yearly basis and down 20 percent on a quarterly basis. The infrastructure provider posted non-IFRS operating margin of 0.1 percent for the period.
The second quarter of the year should mark even more decline in the company's profits. Nokia expects Devices & Services net sales of between EUR 6.1 billion and EUR 6.6 billion, and non-IFRS operating margin between 6 percent and 9 percent.
“In the first quarter, we shifted from defining our strategy to executing our strategy. On this front, I am pleased to report that we signed our definitive agreement with Microsoft and already our product design and engineering work is well under way,” Stephen Elop, Nokia CEO, noted.
“Following a solid first quarter, we expect a more challenging second quarter. However, we are encouraged by our roadmap of mobile phones and Symbian smartphones, which we will ship through the balance of the year. We are fully focused on delivering the needed accountability, speed and results to positively drive our future financial performance.”