Nokia: slashes outlook for 2019 and 2020, shares dive
(CercleFinance.com) - Telecoms gear maker Nokia has slashed its full-year 2019 and 2020 outlook, which has led to the shares plunging by more than 22% today.
The group, which is in the middle of the transfer to 5G, said it plans to pause dividend payments so as to increase investments in 5G and to strengthen its cash position.
For full-year 2019, the Finnish company now expects non-IFRS diluted EPS of 0.21 euro, plus or minus 3 cents, versus 0.25-0.29 euro anticipated previously.
For 2020, Nokia now anticipates EPS of 0.25 euro, plus or minus 5 cents, down from its previous forecast range of 0.37-0.42 euro.
Nokia said that it is suffering from high costs associated with first generation 5G products, profitability challenges in China, and pricing pressure in early 5G deals.
Third-qurter net sales reached 5.7 billion euros, up 4% year-on-year, although EPS reached just 0.01 euro, compared to minus 0.02 euro a year ago, an increase mainly due to the group's cost savings.
Nokia said it expects to resume dividend payments after its net cash position improves to approximately 2 billion euros.
Investors seemed to be very skeptical about this, with the shares plunging 22.5% to under 3.7 euros this morning on Euronext.
Copyright (c) 2019 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.
The group, which is in the middle of the transfer to 5G, said it plans to pause dividend payments so as to increase investments in 5G and to strengthen its cash position.
For full-year 2019, the Finnish company now expects non-IFRS diluted EPS of 0.21 euro, plus or minus 3 cents, versus 0.25-0.29 euro anticipated previously.
For 2020, Nokia now anticipates EPS of 0.25 euro, plus or minus 5 cents, down from its previous forecast range of 0.37-0.42 euro.
Nokia said that it is suffering from high costs associated with first generation 5G products, profitability challenges in China, and pricing pressure in early 5G deals.
Third-qurter net sales reached 5.7 billion euros, up 4% year-on-year, although EPS reached just 0.01 euro, compared to minus 0.02 euro a year ago, an increase mainly due to the group's cost savings.
Nokia said it expects to resume dividend payments after its net cash position improves to approximately 2 billion euros.
Investors seemed to be very skeptical about this, with the shares plunging 22.5% to under 3.7 euros this morning on Euronext.
Copyright (c) 2019 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.