HELSINKI-Nokia Corp. reported modest second-quarter results with a 14-percent jump in net profits in a period that witnessed a slight dip in its handset market share.
The vendor said it had a net profit of $882 million, or 18 cents per share, compared with the same period last year when it had a net profit of $770 million, or 16 cents per share.
Its third-quarter forecast stands at between $8.15 billion and $8.3 billion in net sales compared with $8.5 billion in the same period in 2003.
In its handset business, the company’s market share dropped to 31 percent from 32 percent on a net sales decrease of 13 percent. Its mobile sales stood at $5 billion with an operating margin of 19.1 percent.
The company cites challenges in the European and North American handset markets, while enjoying a boost in both emerging markets of Asia and Latin America. The company also has deployed a pricing strategy designed to keep its position in the industry.
“We employed pricing selectively with certain products to stabilize our mobile device market share,” said Jorma Ollila, chairman and CEO of the company.
In its other divisions, the company also reported modest gains. Its multimedia division enjoyed a net increase of 24 percent to $913 million for the quarter.
In the network area, Nokia counted net sales of $1.8 billion, amounting to a 6-percent increase. Its enterprise division, however, suffered a net sales decrease of 2 percent, amounting to $233 million.
The company’s overall operating cash flow was $1.7 billion, while its cash balance was $14.2 billion.
