Nokia Reports 20 Percent Revenue Decline in Q1

In the first quarter of 2024, Nokia had a 20% decline in net sales to €4.7 billion. The company attributed the drop to ongoing market weakness.

The vendor's net profit went up 52% to €438 million, with improvements to its margins, cost savings, and patent deals contributing. The company booked a 39% decline in net sales for Mobile Networks to €1.6 billion, with an operating loss of €42 million for the division. In the same period last year, it made an operating profit of €137 million.

Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark said that low levels of spending in North America and India contributed the most to a slump in the Mobile Networks division. He predicted the quarter was a low point in demand for the unit, with activity forecast to improve progressively in the remainder of 2024. Lundmark added the slower pace of customer spending in India was anticipated following rapid 5G deployments in the market in the first half of 2023.

Across the whole business, he has pointed to improved order intake in Q1 and an expectation of a stronger second half. He also highlighted the completion of patent deals and a positive outlook for its fixed-focused Network Infrastructure unit. Lundmark said the company made rapid progress on operating model changes and associated cost-saving measures announced in 2023, with the company on track to make €500 million in savings this year.

“We have been executing quickly on the operating model changes we announced back in October along with our cost savings roadmap. These actions, combined with our expectation for improved net sales growth in the second half of the year, supported by our order backlog, mean we are solidly on track to achieve our full-year comparable operating profit outlook of €2.3 to €2.9 billion and free cash flow conversion of 30% to 60%,“ concluded Lundmark.