Nokia's profitability surges in first half of 2017

Nokia's operating profit increased sharply in the first half of 2017, announced the Finnish telecommunications and information technology company in its financial report released on Thursday.

According to Nokia, its operating profit was 574 million euros in the second quarter of 2017, soaring by 73 percent compared with the same period last year.

Nokia's operating profit grew to 915 million euros in the first half of this year from 677 million euros in the same period 2016.

Net sales of the company stood at 5.63 billion euros, increasing by 4 percent on quarter-on-quarter basis but sliding by 1 percent on year-on-year basis.

"Underpinning this result was the excellent performance of Nokia Technologies," said Rajeev Suri, president and CEO of Nokia.

Nokia's financial report showed that Nokia Technologies achieved 158 percent of year-on-year operating profit growth and 90 percent of year-on-year net sales rise in the second quarter of 2017.

However, Nokia lowered the outlook of its mainstay of networks business, which accounts for about 90 percent of its sales.

Suri has anticipated more challenges in the global network market in the full year of 2017 than earlier forecast, saying that he expects a decrease in the market in the range of 3 percent to 5 percent. "We continue to expect our Networks sales to perform in line with the market," he added.