THE WORLD’S largest mobile phone maker, Nokia, made pretax profits of €6.3 million from its Irish arm last year, up 32 per cent on the previous year.
Accounts posted to the Companies’ Office for Nokia (Ireland) Ltd show the mobile phone giant recorded the increase in profits despite a drop of almost 19 per cent in its revenues, which fell by €46 million to just under €200 million.
The Finnish-owned company confirmed that the €199.8 million in revenues was secured solely through the sale of mobile phone handsets in Ireland last year. However, its growth has slowed as the mobile market has matured.
According to the directors of Nokia Ireland “the level of business for the financial year was in line with expectations given the current economic environment”.
“Current market penetration . . . stands at 118 per cent and it is evident that the company is in a replacement market,” they state in a report with the accounts.
“To facilitate future growth, the directors are confident that with the continued development of Nokia smart phone devices and further consideration of the current product portfolio, the company will be able to improve on its 2010 results.”
Operating profit increased by 34 per cent last year from €4.7 million to €6.3 million.The company had accumulated profits of €12.6 million at the end of 2010.
The filings show the numbers employed last year increased from 13 to 14 with the firm’s staff costs decreasing from €1.8 million to €1.4 million.
Nokia unveiled its first phones using Microsoft software at the Nokia World industry event in London last week. The Windows-enabled phones are designed to help the mobile giant catch up in the smart phone market dominated by Apple and Google. The launch follows the earlier announcement of a strategic alliance with Microsoft.
Last year, the mobile phone giant recorded global net sales of €42.4 billion, with an operating profit of €2.1 billion, employing 132,427 employees in 120 countries. However, it has lost 68 per cent of its market value since the launch of the iPhone in 2007. – (Additional reporting Reuters)
