Nokia first quarter profits up 25%

Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, reported a 25 per cent increase in net profit to €1

Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, reported a 25 per cent increase in net profit to €1.22bn for the first quarter of 2008, but its view of the market in 2008 dented its share price.

Nokia said it expects the cellphone market to fall in euro terms in 2008, while the boom in emerging markets would lift shipment volumes by 10 per cent from 2007.

"The change from our previous estimate of value growth for this market primarily reflects the negative impact of the recently weakened US dollar, the general economic slowdown in the US, and possibly going forward some economic slowdown in Europe," it said in a statement.

The company said today its earnings per share for the three months, before one-off items, rose, as expected, to €0.38 from €0.26 euros in the same period of 2007, though larger-than-expected one-off costs pushed reported EPS to €0.32, missing analysts' forecasts.

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Shares in Nokia were 6.6 per cent lower by 11.20am, when the DJ Stoxx European technology sector index was down 3 per cent.

Nokia sold 115.5 million phones in the quarter, more than its three closest rivals combined, and estimated its market share at 39 per cent, below the average of analysts' forecasts of 39.7 per cent.

The Finnish company has a strong lead in emerging markets including China and India, which it has been fiercely defending.

The average selling price of phones in the first quarter was €79, down from €83 in the previous quarter and behind the average of analysts' forecasts of €81.