Nokia has announced what is likely to be its last set of quarterly results before the sale of its handset business to Microsoft, revealing a sharp decline in the company's non-terminal revenue.
Revenue from continuing operations – which exclude the company's device business – fell 21% in the fourth quarter to €3.48 billion ($4.76 billion).
NSN's net sales for the quarter fell 22% to €3.1 billion, Nokia's HERE mapping revenues declined 9% to €254 million and the patent and R&D focused Advanced Technologies division reported a 20% decline in revenue to €121 million.
In a conference call to financial analysts, NSN CEO rajeev Suri acknowledged that the company was unhappy with the top-line results, and needs to be more “assertive” in going after telecom contracts.
Nokia meanwhile posted a 29% decline in revenue from discontinued operations – namely its handset business. Sales of the Windows Phone based Lumia handsets fell to 8.2 million units in Q4, from 8.8 million during Q3.
Nokia's full-year results were a little brighter. NSN swung to a slim FY13 profit of €15 million, from a €1.4 billion loss in FY12. The parent reported earnings per share of €0.05, from up from -€0.20 a year earlier.
Nokia chairman and interim CEO Risto Siilasmaa said his team is “diligently working towards defining Nokia’s future direction” in anticipation of the device unit sale.
“I am pleased with the progress we have made thus far in our strategy evaluation and excited by the opportunities ahead for each of our three continuing businesses: NSN, HERE and Advanced Technologies,” he said.