Nokia pulls off a profit, holds out hope for the future

From CNET News.com: Nokia might be down, but it's certainly not out.

The company today reported its fourth-quarter earnings, and offered up performance that might make its doomsayers think twice. During the fourth quarter, Nokia was able to generate a profit of 202 million euros ($269 million), a massive gain over the 1 billion euros the company lost during the same period in 2011. Still, Nokia's profit came amid slumping revenue that fell from 10 billion euros in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 8 billion last quarter.

On a full-year basis, Nokia could only muster 30.2 billion euros in sales, down 22 percent compared to the 38.7 billion euros it generated in 2011. Its 2012 operating profit was down to a 2.3 billion euro loss, compared to a 1.1 billion euro loss in all of 2011.

Nokia's Devices & Services operation also took some hits, with fourth-quarter revenue dropping from 6 billion in 2011 to 3.9 billion last quarter. That division's sales on an annual basis were down 34 percent.

The Devices division was boosted by a strong showing for Lumia sales in the fourth quarter, which hit 4.4 million units worldwide. However, the Smart Devices division could only muster 6.6 million unit sales, helping the company realize a 66 percent year-over-year decline.

Although shareholders might be somewhat pleased with Nokia's financial performance, they won't be happy to find that the company doesn't plan to pay dividends for 2012. In a statement today, Nokia said that while it paid 20 cents per share in 2011, the board will propose no dividend for 2012 in an effort to improve the company's "liquidity position."

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