Nokia Reports 576m Euro Loss Ahead Of Launch

Nokia has reported an operating loss of 576m euros (£467m) in the third quarter - but the news has reassured investors and led to a share price hike.

The Finnish company's results were better than analysts had feared, boosted by a record profit at its telecoms equipment company, Nokia Siemens Networks.

Its share price jumped 8.9% following the results, which come as the mobile phone manufacturer prepares to launch its Lumia 820 and 920 smartphones next month.

Once the world's largest mobile phone maker, Nokia has fallen behind rivals Apple and Samsung despite its partnership with software giant Microsoft last year.

Its results - which cover the three months to the end of September - mark the third quarterly loss for the company.

Nokia also said its cash reserves fell - to 3.6bn euros (£2.9bn) by the end of the quarter from 4.2bn euros (£3.4bn) in June.

The company's chief executive, Stephen Elop, said this had been a "difficult quarter." 

"We continued to manage through a tough transitional quarter for our smart devices business as we shared the exciting innovation ahead with our new line of Lumia products," he said.

"While we continue to focus on transitioning Nokia, we are determined to carefully manage our financial resources, improve our competitiveness... and ultimately provide more value to our shareholders."

Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said: "Mobile phones were good, but this was the only place to look for a good news.

"Nothing good could have come from smart devices as there were no new products."

Looking ahead, she said the fourth quarter would be tough for all mobile phone companies because the hype will be around tablets, not smartphones.