- Winning start for Poch's American adventure
- Morocco's tribeswomen see facial tattoo tradition fade
- Centre-left set to win as pro-Ukraine Lithuania votes
- Colombia guerilla group urges delegations not to attend COP16 in Cali
- Pakistan frets over security ahead of SCO summit
- Ronaldo scores 133rd Portugal goal in Nations League win over Poland
- 40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn 'attacks'
- Eight dead as heavy rain thrashes Brazil after long drought
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- Morocco crush Central African Republic, Guirassy scores hat-trick
- Dupont scores quickfire hat-trick on Toulouse Top 14 return
- Ronaldo scores in Portugal's Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- Interim boss Carsley has not applied for England job
- Mets hurler Senga ready to take on Dodgers in game one of NL Championship Series
- Ronaldo on target again as Portugal defeat Poland in Nations League
- Guardians rip Tigers 7-3 to advance in MLB playoffs
- AFP, BBC win top French war reporting awards
- Carsley goes back to basics as humbled England face Finland
- Alex Salmond: the man who took Scotland to the brink of independence
- Scotland's former leader Alex Salmond dies aged 69: party
- UN warns of catastrophe as Israel fights a two-front war
- Croatia extend Scotland's losing streak
- South Africa, New Zealand boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes
- 'Very challenging': Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain
- Farrell begins to feel at home as Racing 92 beat Toulon
- South Africa boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes with Bangladesh win
- Samson ton powers India to T20 series sweep after record total
- Djokovic to face Sinner in Shanghai final with 100th title in sight
- UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon: spokesman
- Pro-Conquest film fuels debate in Mexico over colonial legacy
- Samson ton powers India to record 297-6 in Bangladesh T20
- New Zealand enjoy perfect start to America's Cup defence over Britain
- Pogacar emulates icon Coppi with fourth straight Il Lombardia triumph
- UN warns against 'catastrophic' regional conflict
- New Zealand crush Ineos Britannia in America's Cup opener
- Djokovic to face Sinner in blockbuster Shanghai Masters final
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- Sri Lanka seeks to match success in W.Indies T20s
- Sinner reaches Shanghai final, will end year number one
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Sabalenka downs Gauff in three sets to reach Wuhan final
- Israel warns south Lebanon residents to 'not return'
- Sinner tames Machac to reach Shanghai Masters final
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- Hezbollah fires at Israel as wars rage on Yom Kippur
- Analysts warn more detail needed on new China economic measures
- China tees up fresh spending to boost ailing economy
- China says will issue special bonds to boost ailing economy
Nokia sees 'challenging' 2024 after profits plunge
Finnish telecommunications equipment maker Nokia warned Thursday that it expects another tough economic environment in the first half of this year after its net profit sank in 2023.
Nokia and its Swedish rival Ericsson have launched cost-cutting programmes as their customers have reduced spending amid a slowing global economy.
The Finnish firm reported a profit of 679 million euros ($739 million) for last year, down 84 percent from 2022.
"In 2023 we saw a meaningful shift in customer behaviour impacting our industry driven by the macro-economic environment and high interest rates along with customer inventory digestion," Nokia chief executive Pekka Lundmark said in an earnings statement.
"We expect the challenging environment of 2023 to continue during the first half of 2024, particularly in the first quarter," he added.
Nokia reported an 11 percent drop in net sales last year to 22.26 billion euros, driven by a fall in investment by mobile network operators in North America.
The results were also affected by a slowdown in the deployment of 5G networks in India.
In the last quarter of 2023, its adjusted operating profit fell 27 percent to 846 million, but this was still higher than the 763 million euros expected by a group of analysts polled by Bloomberg.
Nokia said last year it could cut its workforce by up to 14,000 people, reducing costs by up to 1.2 billion euros by 2026.
The company also lost a battle with Ericsson for a $14 billion five-year contract with US company AT&T.
Atte Riikola, an analyst with Finnish market research firm Inderes, told AFP that the first half of 2024 "will remain pretty bad for all the business areas" for Nokia.
"Mobile networks will remain a very tough market, in particular in North America, and is not expected to fully recover," Riikola said, adding that "investors have to be patient."
Nokia shares were up over six percent in the early hours of trading on the Helsinki stock exchange, with investors encouraged by strong free cash flow generated in the last quarter and the announcement of a two-year, 600-million-euro share buyback programme, according to analysts.
Lundmark said the outlook could improve in the second half of this year.
"We are now starting to see some green shoots on the horizon, with improving order intake for network infrastructure and some of the specific deals we have won," he said.
For its part, Ericsson warned Tuesday that it expected further market decline outside China this year after booking a loss of 26.1 billion kronor ($2.5 billion) last year.
Nokia, Ericsson and Chinese firm Huawei are locked in a fierce battle for 5G business around the world.
P.Santos--AMWN