Nokia has reported a net sales of €9.5bn in the first quarter 2010, up by 3% as compared with €9.3bn in the same quarter prior year.
Nokia said that the increase is primarily from higher volumes in most regions driven by stronger demand, partially offset by an average selling price (ASP) decline, compared to the first quarter 2009.
The company has also registered an increase in operating profit to €488m in the first quarter of 2010, as compared with €55m in the same quarter last year.
Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia, said: In Q1, Nokia delivered both year-on-year net sales and operating profit growth. We continue to face tough competition with respect to the high end of our mobile device portfolio, as well as challenging market conditions on the infrastructure side.
The company’s non-International Financial Reporting Standards (non-IFRS) operating profit increased 60% to €820m in the first quarter 2010, as compared with €514m last year.
According to the company, operating cash flow for the first quarter 2010 was €1bn as compared with €0.3bn prior year, while total cash and other liquid assets were €9.7bn at end of the first quarter 2010, compared with €8.1bn previous year.
However, Nokia’s net debt-equity ratio was -31% at the end of the first quarter 2010, as compared with -14% at the end of same quarter 2009.
In the devices and services area, the company has reported net sales of €6.7bn in the first quarter 2010, up by 8% compared with €6.2bn in the same quarter 2009.
The total mobile device volumes of devices and services were 107.8 million units in the the first quarter 2010, representing an increase of 16% year-on-year and a decrease of 15% sequentially.
However, competitive pressures in the ultra-low to mid-range product price bands, particularly in certain Asian countries, adversely affected our mobile device volumes in the first quarter 2010, the company said.
The company’s preliminary estimated mobile device market share was 33% in the first quarter 2010, up from an estimated 32% in the first quarter 2009 and down from an estimated 35% in the fourth quarter 2009.
According to the company, the increase is due to improved measurement processes and tools that enable us to have better visibility to estimate the number of mobile devices sold by certain new entrants in the global mobile device market.
In devices and services, Nokia reported a gross profit (reported and non-IFRS) of 3% to €2.2bn, compared with €2.1bn in the first quarter 2009, with a gross margin (reported and non-IFRS) of 32.4% (33.8%).
Nokia’s said that its converged mobile device volumes, comprising smartphones and mobile computers, were 21.5 million units in the first quarter 2010, an increase of 57% compared with 13.7 million units in the first quarter 2009 and 3% compared with 20.8 million units in the fourth quarter 2009.
Kallasvuo said: During the quarter, we also demonstrated our ability to deliver the Nokia smartphone experience to consumers on a global scale, with our smartphone shipments up by more than 50% year-on-year.
