HELSINKI, Finland -- Nokia, the world's leading cell phone maker, has seen a return to sales growth in the third quarter, accompanied by a strong increase in profitability. With 3G product and infrastructure roll outs waiting in the wings Nokia spoke of a "very strong" outlook for profitability in the future.
Net sales revenue in the third quarter was about $7.0 billion (7.2 billion euro) up 2% on the same quarter a year before. Net profit jumped to about $595 million (610 million euro) up from about $181 million (186 million euro) in the same quarter a year before.
Mobile phone sales grew 7% year-on-year driven mainly by sales in Asia and Europe, the company said.
"In mobile phones, pro forma operating profit rose by an outstanding 25%, compared with the third quarter last year, with margins exceeding expectations at a very healthy 22.2%," said," said Jorma Ollila, chairman and chief executive officer of Nokia, in a statement.
"The handset market is entering a new growth period spurred by the arrival of an increasing number of mass volume products with color and multimedia messaging capability, all enriching the customer experience. Current visibility suggests overall market volume for 2002 will reach our earlier expectations of 400 million units sold," he added.
