:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-1231745875-5e74ba09c86045da900f0352b1535556.jpg)
Key Takeaways
- Nokia ADRs gained more than 10% higher after the Finnish telecommunications company announced a $650 million share buyback program.
- Fourth-quarter net sales of 5.7 billion euros were down 23% year-on-year.
- CEO Pekka Lundmark warned that the “challenging environment” of 2023 will continue into 2024.
American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Nokia (NOK) soared on Thursday after the Finnish telecommunications company announced a $650 million share buyback program, even as the firm warned of a tough operating environment this year.
Nokia said that it will begin a two-year 600 million euro ($650 million) share buyback this quarter, despite a plunge in its fourth-quarter profit.
Operating profit in the last three months of 2023 fell 27% year-on-year to 846 million euros, while net sales slumped 23% to 5.7 billion euros.
“Looking ahead, we expect the challenging environment of 2023 to continue during the first half of 2024, particularly in the first quarter,” Nokia CEO Pekka Lindberg said in a statement, blaming “the macro-economic environment, higher interest rates, and customer inventory digestion” for the sales decline.
The company was dealt a setback in December when U.S. mobile carrier AT&T tapped its rival Ericsson to build a new U.S. 5G network.
The Finnish company had already been reeling from weaker third-quarter earnings and said it would cut 14,000 of its 86,000 staff to cut costs last year.
ADRs of Nokia were up 11.6% at $3.80 in late-morning trading Thursday. The stock has lost 18% of its value over the past year.