Nokia posts 339 mn euro loss in Jan-Mar qtr

Global mobile phones maker Nokia today reported consolidated loss of 339 million euro (about Rs 2,390 crore) for the January-March quarter, as against 1,570 million euro in the year-ago period.
Nokia attributed 272 million euro loss to equity holders of the parent and 67 million euro to non-controlling interests.
"At the highest level, we are pleased that Nokia Group achieved underlying operating profitability for the third quarter in a row," Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said in a statement.
The consolidated net sales of Nokia group declined by around 20 per cent at 5,852 million euro, which amounts to around Rs 41,256 crore at exchange rate of 70.5, during the quarter, from 7,354 million euro in the same period in previous financial year.

The devices and services net sales of the company in the first quarter (Q1) of 2013 continued to decline - a dip of 25 per cent year-on-year.
Globally, Nokia sold 61.9 million mobile phones in Q1, compared to 82.7 million units in the same period in 2012.

The company was able to sell 6.1 million smart devices and 55.8 million units of mobile phones in Q1, 2013. In Q1, 2012, Nokia sold 11.9 million units of smart devices and 70.8 million units of mobile phones globally.
The average number of Nokia Group employees during the quarter was 95,895. Of this, location bases services firm HERE and Nokia Siemens Networks had 6,067 and 57,504 employees respectively.

The telecom equipment joint venture of the company, Nokia Siemens Networks, reported operating profit of 3 million euro during the quarter. NSN had posted operating loss of 1,004 million euro in the same period a year ago.
The net sales of NSN, however, declined by 5 per cent at 2,804 million euro during the January-March period, compared to Euro 2,947 million in the same period in 2012.
HERE, reported widening of operating loss at 97 million euro in Q1, 2013. It had posted operating loss of 94 million euro in Q1, 2012.