Nokia Outlook Boosts Shares

Nokia(NOK) surprised Wall Street with a rosy second-half outlook for its mobile phone unit, despite posting a 61% slide in profits from a year ago due to one-time charges.

The Finnish mobile-phone giant posted earnings for the quarter of 1.10 billion euros, or 29 euro cents a share, down from 2.82 billion euros, or 72 euro cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding charges related to closing the Bochum site in Germany, restructuring costs and other one-time items, Nokia notched a profit of 1.36 billion euros, or 36 euro cents a share.

Sales for the quarter ended last month were 13.15 billion euros, up 4% both sequentially and from a year earlier. Analysts on average expected Nokia to post a profit for the second quarter of 1.32 billion euros, or 36 euro cents a share, on sales of 12.88 billion euros, according to Thomson Reuters

"Nokia delivered increased device market share and strong underlying profitability in the quarter," CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in a press release. "Looking at the rest of the year, we are optimistic and have had good feedback about the broad range of new products we expect to sell in our device business."

Nokia's management endorsed a 10% or more year-over-year global market unit growth, which analysts expect will allay concerns of a broad industry slow down. Nokia said it expects industry mobile device volumes in the third quarter 2008 to be up sequentially, and for its market share to remain the same in the third quarter.