Nokia results beat expectations

Mobile phone giant Nokia reported January-March earnings and sales above expectations on Thursday, boosted by strong demand for handsets around the world, sending its shares sharply higher.
The firm, which sells more than one in three of all mobiles, grew its share of the market, though its main rival Motorola reported even faster growing sales earlier this week.
Demand was strong in fast growing markets such as Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa - regions where low cost Nokia phones are popular - but Nokia said its global sales included an increasing proportion of more expensive models where for many years it lagged Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola.
"We believe we are also clearly gaining value market share, driven by our expanded mid-range offering and success of our high-end portfolio," outgoing Chief Executive Jorma Ollila told a conference call.
Nokia boosted its group operating margin to 14.4 percent in the quarter from 13.2 percent in the previous three months.
The world's top cellphone maker said its first-quarter earnings per share rose to 0.25 euro, compared with expectations in the range 0.19-0.23 euro in a Reuters poll of 17 analysts.
Ollila, who hands over as CEO on June 1 to Chief Operating Officer Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, said the Finnish company continued to gain in the huge markets of China and India.
First-quarter sales rose to 9.5 billion euros ($11.7 billion) from 7.4 billion a year earlier, also beating all forecasts in the poll.
Nokia, which has revamped its product portfolio since 2004, when it lost market share to rivals with more sought-after designs, reported brisk sales of its N-series multimedia phones, such as the N70, its top revenue generator in the quarter.
It said the N70 camera phone was the biggest selling third-generation (3G) mobile in the world - accounting for about 10 percent of that market on its own.
Chief Financial Officer Rick Simonson said Nokia would spend more on marketing in the second quarter - particularly its N-series phones.
"We expect a material sequential increase in marketing costs, both in absolute (terms) and as a percentage of sales," he told the conference call.