Nokia on Thursday said that it will begin a two-year 600 million euro ($653 million) share buyback this quarter, after reporting that its profit plunged in 2023, Ednews reports citing CNBC.
Nokia shares were 7% higher at around 8.19 a.m. London time on Thursday.
One of the world’s largest mobile network equipment makers, Nokia posted fourth-quarter net sales of 5.7 billion euros, a 23% year-on-year decline. Comparable operating profit fell 27% year-on-year to 846 million.
“In 2023 we saw a meaningful shift in customer behavior impacting our industry driven by the macro-economic environment and high interest rates along with customer inventory digestion,” Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark said in a statement.
Inventory digestion refers to customers, such as telecommunications networks, using gear that they have already bought, rather than purchasing new equipment.
Lundmark said the “challenging environment” of 2023 will continue into 2024.