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Nokia slashes outlook despite “solid” Q3

October 24, 2019

Nokia has cut its 2019 and 2020 profit outlook, saying profits would come under pressure as the Finland based company spends more to fend off rivals in the fast-growing 5G networks business.

The telecom network equipment maker, which met Q3 profit expectations, also said it would pause dividend payments to raise investments in 5G and only resume them when its cash position improves.

Nokia reported Q3 net sales of €5.7 billion against €5.5 billion a year earlier.

Rajeev Suri, president and CEO, commented: “Nokia delivered a solid third quarter, with positive free cash flow; widespread sales growth; solid operating margin; strong performances in Nokia Enterprise, Nokia Software and IP Routing; and good progress towards meeting our 2019 cost reduction goals. We are proud to have launched 15 live 5G networks with customers, including Sprint, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile in the US; Vodafone Italy and Zain in Saudi Arabia; as well as SKT, KT and LGU+ in Korea.

Many of our businesses are performing well and we expect Q4 to be strong, with a robust operating margin and an increase in net cash of approximately €1.2 billion. At the same time, some of the risks that we flagged previously related to the initial phase of 5G are now materializing. In particular, our Q3 gross margin was impacted by product mix; a high cost level associated with our first generation 5G products; profitability challenges in China; pricing pressure in early 5G deals; and uncertainty related to the announced operator merger in North America.

We expect that we will be able to progressively mitigate these issues over the course of next year. To do so, we will increase investment in 5G in order to accelerate product roadmaps and product cost reductions, and in the digitalisation of internal processes to improve overall productivity. We will also continue to invest in our enterprise and software businesses, which are developing rapidly and performing well. Given these investments and the risks we see materialising, we are adjusting our targets for full-year 2019 and 2020; and we expect our recovery to drive improvement in our 2021 financial performance relative to 2020.

I am confident that our strategy remains the right one. We continue to focus on leadership in high-performance end-to-end networks with Communication Service Providers; strong growth in enterprise; strengthening our software business; and diversification of licensing into IoT and consumer electronics.

As I look to the future, it is clear to me that Nokia has some unique advantages. We have a powerful, end-to-end portfolio that allows us to benefit from 5G investments across all network domains. We have a demonstrated ability to drive value and cash flow through product leadership. We have successful diversification into enterprise and software well underway. We have a large patent licensing business that is sustainable and cash generative over time, with opportunities to enter new growth segments. We have meaningful opportunities to drive further cost reductions through digitalisation and automation.

These advantages give me confidence in our ability to create value for our shareholders and achieve our longer-term operating margin target.”

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