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Mobile phone maker Nokia's fourth-quarter sales and profits beat expectations as it regained market share in smartphones, sending its stock price 14 per cent higher.
The strong results cap an otherwise tough year for Nokia and the cellphone industry, which have been hammered as consumers cut spending in the recession.
Shares in Nokia were 14.75 per cent higher at €10.35 by 12.56pm, helping to lift the DJ Stoxx European Technology Index 4.5 per cent.
The shares are back up to the level they were trading at before weak third-quarter results hit by losses in smartphone market share. Nokia repeated its forecast for the handset market to grow 10 per cent in 2010 from a year ago.
"This quarter gives us good momentum to build for in 2010," Nokia chief financial officer Timo Ihamuotila said, but he said there was still reason for cautiousness.
"Regarding (the) economy we are not out of the woods yet... consumer confidence is still fragile," he said.
The result marked an end to a steady stream of market share losses for Nokia's smartphones, with the firm saying its share rose to 40 per cent in the last quarter from 35 per cent in the third quarter of 2009 as it launched new models.
Nokia had been hurt in recent quarters by a dated portfolio of smartphones, with Apple's iPhone and Blackberry-maker Research in Motion both eating into its share of this fatter margin business.
"Nokia's smartphone performance saw a reassuring improvement despite a strong quarter for RIM and Apple," said Geoff Blaber from British consultancy CCS Insight.
Nokia said revenues from smartphones jumped 26 per cent from the previous quarter to €3.9 billion. Average smartphone prices dipped to €186 from €190 in the third quarter as the firm tries to win back customers with simpler, cheaper smartphones.
Nokia proposed a dividend of 40 cent per share, beating the average expectation of 31 cent in the poll, but within the range of estimates.
Reuters
