Earlier today, telecommunication equipment supplier Nokia announced 2018Q4 and full year 2018 financial results. Net sales in Q4 2018 were EUR 6.9bn, compared to EUR 6.7bn in Q4 2017. Net sales grew by 3% year-on-year.  Operating profit was up 34% in Q4 over the comparable period last year.  Diluted EPS in Q4 2018 was EUR 0.03, compared to negative EUR 0.07 in Q4 2017, primarily driven by lower income tax expenses and our gross profit performance.

The guidance seems to have disappointed analysts:  Based on the evolving readiness of the 5G ecosystem and the staggered nature of 5G rollouts in lead countries, we expect full year 2019 to follow a similar pattern as full year 2018: a soft first half followed by a robust second half, with a particularly weak Q1.

On a conference call, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri predicted particularly weak Q1 sales, “Part of that is that there will be staggered rollouts of 5G in lead countries such as the US, Japan, China and Korea. You will not see full-year rollout in these countries”

Investors also seemed disappointed.  Shares in Helsinki closed down 3% for the day.

For more details on their financial results, see https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2019/01/31/nokia-corporation-financial-report-for-q4-and-full-year-2018/

TruePulse buys and sells surplus and used Nokia telecommunication equipment, including lines previously branded Alcatel, Lucent and Alcatel-Lucent, such as the FT-2000, CBX500 and 1665 DMX.