NOKIA GENERATE $270 MILLION PROFIT

Nokia Corp, turned a net profit of euro 202 million ($270 million) in the fourth quarter , copared with a loss of $1 billion earlier , but revenue fell 20 percent as it failed to make gains in the fiercely competitive market.

The Finish cmpany said Thursday that revenue dropped to euro 8billion($ 10.6 billion) from euro 10 billion as smartphone sales plunged 55 percent from a year earlier.

Nokia gave a grim outlook saying operating margins in the first quarter of this year to be " approximatly negative 2 percent, plus or minus four percent points " It cited increased competition and lowe-than expected for its flagship Lumina phones and cheaper Asha models.

Nokia sold 15.9 million smartphones in this quarte , down from 19.6 million a year earlier , including 4.4 million  Lumina Phones in the period , 15 percent less than in 2011.


CEO stephen Elop said he was encouraged that the company 's startegy had reached "underlying profitablity" and strengthened its finacial position but cautioned  that more cutbacks could be expected.

The companys stock dropped more 3 percent to euro 3.30 in early afternoon  trading in Helsinki.