Nokia has reported a comparable operating profit of €423m for the second quarter of 2024 (Q2 2024), a 32% decrease compared to €619m for the same quarter of the previous year. In the previous quarter, Q1 2024, the Finnish telecommunications company posted a comparable operating profit of €597m.
Nokia’s net sales in the reported second quarter of this year were €4.46bn, a decrease of 18%, compared to €5.43bn reported in the same quarter of 2023. In Q1 2024, the company reported net sales of €4.6bn.
The Finnish company’s diluted earnings per share (EPS) for Q2 2024 were down by 14% to €0.06m, compared to €0.07m in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Nokia blames market headwinds for profit slump
According to Nokia, the company’s financial performance in the given quarter was impacted by the ongoing market weakness.
The firm revealed that the most substantial impact stemmed from the challenging comparison to the same period last year, which marked the peak of India’s rapid 5G deployment. The Asian country contributed to three-quarters of the decline.
Nokia president and CEO Pekka Lundmark said: “I am pleased to confirm that the improving order intake momentum we’ve talked about for the past couple of quarters has continued in the second quarter across the group and most notably in Network Infrastructure.
“This trend means our backlog further expanded and we look forward to a meaningful improvement in net sales in the second half. Generally, the market remains uncertain, so we will continue to be agile and prudently manage our cost base as we navigate this environment.”
Nokia posted comparable research and development expenses of €1.06bn in the reported quarter, which is a 5% decrease, compared to that of €1.01bn in Q2 2023. Its comparable selling, general and administrative expenses of Q2 2024 were €610m which remained flat compared to €607m in the prior year quarter.
The telecommunications company also showcased net sales of €1.52bn in the reported quarter for its network infrastructure unit, which is 10.5% low compared to €1.7bn in Q2 2023. Its mobile networks, cloud and network services, and Nokia Technologies units, meanwhile, reported net sales of €1.97bn, €615m, and €356m, respectively, in Q2 2024.
