Nokia Margins Suffer In Q1 Due To Mixed Segmental Performance; Boosts Dividend

Jennifer DuBois

April 20, 2023

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Nokia Corp (NYSE: NOK) reported a first-quarter FY23 net sales growth of 10% year-on-year (9% in constant currency) to €5.86 billion.
Network Infrastructure sales grew 13% Y/Y in CC. Cloud and Network Services sales increased by 3% Y/Y in CC, while Nokia Tech declined 22% Y/Y as a long-term licensee exercised an option.
Mobile Networks sales grew by 13% Y/Y in CC as 5G deployments in India ramped up.
Margins: Gross margin declined by 310 bps to 37.5%. Comparable gross margin decreased by 300 bps to 37.7%, driven by the Nokia Technologies option exercise.
The operating margin increased by 70 bps to 7.3%, and the comparable operating margin declined by 270 bps to 8.2%.
EPS was €0.05, and comparable EPS was €0.06.
Nokia held €4.3 billion in cash and equivalents and used €0.1 billion in free cash flow.
Dividend: The board proposed a quarterly dividend of €0.03 per share (up from the current €0.02 per share).
Buyback: Nokia’s second €300 million phase of the share buyback program started in January 2023 and will end by Dec. 21, 2023.
FY23 Outlook: Nokia reiterated a net sales guidance of €24.6 billion – €26.2 billion (2% – 8% growth in constant currency).
Nokia reiterates a comparable operating margin of 11.5% – 14.0%.
Price Action: NOK shares traded lower by 8.23% at $4.23 on the last check Thursday.