Nokia on Thursday posted its sixth consecutive quarterly loss as gains made in other divisions were offset by losses linked to declining smartphone sales figures and restructuring charges.

Nokia lost 969 billion Euros (about $1.27 billion) during the third quarter coming with a 19 percent decrease in revenue.

In its report, Nokia posted net sales of 7.24 billion Euros ($9.45 billion), down from a 7.5-billion Euros revenue for the same quarter last year.

In the first quarter, Nokia posted a net loss of $1.7 billion and in the second quarter, it posted a net loss of $1.74 billion.

The struggling Finnish giant, set to release new Lumia smartphones running on Windows Phone 8 next month, sold just 6.3 million smartphones in the three-month period ending in September 30.

That figure is down 64.5 percent compared to its performance for the same quarter last year and is down 38 percent compared to its performance for the preceding quarter.

Of these 6.3 million smartphones, less than half were Lumia smartphones, a fact Nokia says may be due to people waiting for the release of Windows Phone 8 Lumias.

Nokia sold 2.9 million Lumia smartphones for the just-ended quarter compared to 4 million Lumia smartphones in the preceding quarter.

Nokia also only sold about just 300,000 smartphones in the North American market.

CEO Stephen Elop, though admitting difficulties for the company for the third quarter, chooses to look on the bright side.

“As we expected, Q3 was a difficult quarter in our Devices & Services business; however, we are pleased that we shifted Nokia Group to operating profitability on a non-IFRS basis,” he said, harping about the Nokia Siemens Networks non-IFRS operating margin which significantly improved quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year to 9.2% in Q3.

This is a product of the company executing well on restructuring and strategy that focuses on key markets and product segments, Nokia said.

“Nokia Siemens Networks had a remarkable quarter in which we achieved record profitability on a non-IFRS basis and the Nokia Siemens Networks cash balance increased for the fourth quarter in a row,” the CEO said.

“In Q3, we continued to manage through a tough transitional quarter for our smart devices business as we shared the exciting innovation ahead with our new line of Lumia products,” Elop added.

“In our mobile phones business, the positive consumer response to our new Asha full touch smartphones translated into strong sales. And in Q3, our mobile phones business delivered a solid quarter with sequential sales growth and improved contribution margin,” he explained.

Nokia said it shipped 76.6 million Mobile Phones units, of which 6.5 million were Asha full touch smartphones.

The Devices and Services division of the company sold a total of 82.9 million mobile devices, a slight slide from the previous quarter but a precipitous drop (22 percent) year-on-year.

Nokia lorded over the mobile phones market for 14 years until Samsung stole the Finnish company’s crown earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Elop explained further that “In Location & Commerce, we made progress establishing our platform offering with customers like Amazon. This is in line with our plan to expand our location offering to more customers.”

“While we continue to focus on transitioning Nokia, we are determined to carefully manage our financial resources, improve our competitiveness, return our Devices & Services business to positive operating cash flow as quickly as possible, and ultimately provide more value to our shareholders,” the CEP of the embattled company noted.

The third quarter report from the company is riddled with negative signs, however, as it still struggles to find its footing in the massively-competitive smartphones industry.

Nokia Group ended Q3 with gross cash of 8.8 billion Euros and net cash of 3.6 billion Euros.

Here are the tables included by Nokia in its interim (summary) report. For the full Nokia Q3 report, download the PDF here.

SUMMARY FINANCIAL INFORMATION

	Reported and Non-IFRS third quarter 2012 results1,2,3
EUR million	Q3/2012	Q3/2011	YoY Change	Q2/2012	QoQ Change
Nokia
Net sales	7 239	8 980	-19%	7 542	-4%
Operating profit	-576	-71		-826
Operating profit (non-IFRS)	78	252	-69%	-327
Operating margin %	-8.0%	-0.8%		-11.0%
Operating margin % (non-IFRS)	1.1%	2.8%		-4.3%
EPS, EUR diluted	-0.26	-0.02		-0.38
EPS, EUR diluted (non-IFRS)4	-0.07	0.03		-0.08
Net cash from operating activities	-429	852		102
Net cash and other liquid assets5	3 564	5 067	-30%	4 197	-15%
Devices & Services6
Net sales	3 563	5 392	-34%	4 023	-11%
Smart Devices net sales	976	2 194	-56%	1 541	-37%
Mobile Phones net sales	2 366	2 915	-19%	2 291	3%
Mobile device volume (mn units)	82.9	106.6	-22%	83.7	-1%
Smart Devices volume (mn units)	6.3	16.8	-63%	10.2	-38%
Mobile Phones volume (mn units)	76.6	89.8	-15%	73.5	4%
Mobile device ASP7	43	51	-16%	48	-10%
Smart Devices ASP7	155	131	18%	151	3%
Mobile Phones ASP7	31	32	-3%	31	0%
Operating profit	-683	168		-474
Operating profit (non-IFRS)	-263	258		-365
Operating margin %	-19.2%	3.1%		-11.8%
Operating margin % (non-IFRS)	-7.4%	4.8%		-9.1%
Location & Commerce6
Net sales	265	282	-6%	283	-6%
Operating profit	-56	-85		-95
Operating profit (non-IFRS)	37	28	32%	41	-10%
Operating margin %	-21.1%	-30.1%		-33.6%
Operating margin % (non-IFRS)	14.0%	9.9%		14.5%
Nokia Siemens Networks6
Net sales	3 501	3 413	3%	3 343	5%
Operating profit	182	-114		-227
Operating profit (non-IFRS)	323	6		27
Operating margin %	5.2%	-3.3%		-6.8%
Operating margin % (non-IFRS)	9.2%	0.2%		0.8%

 

THIRD QUARTER 2012 NET SALES, REPORTED & CONSTANT CURRENCY1
	YoY Change	QoQ Change
Group net sales – reported	-19%	-4%
Group net sales – constant currency1	-23%	-7%
Devices & Services net sales – reported	-34%	-11%
Devices & Services net sales – constant currency1	-36%	-13%
Nokia Siemens Networks net sales – reported	3%	5%
Nokia Siemens Networks net sales – constant currency1	-3%	1%

 

NOKIA GROUP CASH FLOW AND FINANCIAL POSITION
EUR million	Q3/2012	Q3/2011	YoY Change	Q2/2012	QoQ Change
Net cash from operating activities	-429	852		102
Total cash and other liquid assets	8 779	10 809	-19%	9 418	-7%
Net cash and other liquid assets1	3 564	5 067	-30%	4 197	-15%

 

DEVICES & SERVICES RESULTS SUMMARY
	Q3/2012	Q3/2011	YoY Change	Q2/2012	QoQ Change
Net sales (EUR million)1	3 563	5 392	-34%	4 023	-11%
Mobile device volume (million units)	82.9	106.6	-22%	83.7	-1%
Mobile device ASP (EUR)	43	51	-16%	48	-10%
Non-IFRS gross margin (%)	18.5%	25.7%		18.1%
Non-IFRS operating expenses (EUR million)	915	1 126	-19%	1 090	-16%
Non-IFRS operating margin (%)	-7.4%	4.8%		-9.1%

 

DEVICES & SERVICES NET SALES BY GEOGRAPHIC AREA
EUR million	Q3/2012	Q3/2011	YoY Change	Q2/2012	QoQ Change
Europe	985	1 394	-29%	1 096	-10%
Middle East & Africa	682	957	-29%	663	3%
Greater China	278	1 240	-78%	542	-49%
Asia-Pacific	977	1 197	-18%	948	3%
North America	36	73	-51%	128	-72%
Latin America	605	531	14%	646	-6%
Total	3 563	5 392	-34%	4023	-11%

 

DEVICES & SERVICES MOBILE DEVICE VOLUMES BY GEOGRAPHIC AREA
million units	Q3/2012	Q3/2011	YoY Change	Q2/2012	QoQ Change
Europe	16.8	20.7	-19%	15.3	10%
Middle East & Africa	19.1	26.0	-27%	19.4	-2%
Greater China	5.8	15.9	-64%	7.9	-27%
Asia-Pacific	30.1	32.4	-7%	28.6	5%
North America	0.3	0.7	-57%	0.6	-50%
Latin America	10.8	10.9	-1%	11.9	-9%
Total	82.9	106.6	-22%	83.7	-1%

 

DEVICES & SERVICES RESTRUCTURING SUMMARY
EUR (million)	Q3/2012 (approximate)	Cumulative up to Q3/2012 (approximate)	Q4/2012 (approximate estimate)	2013 (approximate estimate)	Total (approximate estimate)
Restructuring related charges	454	1 400	Not provided	Not provided	1 800
Restructuring related cash outflows	200	800	400	400	1 600

 

 

SMART DEVICES RESULTS SUMMARY
	Q3/2012	Q3/2011	YoY Change	Q2/2012	QoQ Change
Net sales (EUR millions)1	976	2 194	-56%	1 541	-37%
Smart Devices volume (million units)	6.3	16.8	-63%	10.2	-38%
Smart Devices ASP (EUR)	155	131	18%	151	3%
Gross margin (%)	-3.5%	20.7%		1.7%
Operating expenses (EUR millions)2	441	656	-33%	540	-18%
Contribution margin (%)2	-48.9%	-8.7%		-32.9%

 

MOBILE PHONES RESULTS SUMMARY
	Q3/2012	Q3/2011	YoY Change	Q2/2012	QoQ Change
Net sales (EUR millions)1	2 366	2 915	-19%	2 291	3%
Mobile Phones volume (million units)	76.6	89.8	-15%	73.5	4%
Mobile Phones ASP (EUR)	31	32	-3%	31	0%
Gross margin (%)	21.7%	23.6%		24.1%
Operating expenses (EUR million)2	393	404	-3%	450	-13%
Contribution margin (%)2	4.9%	10.1%		4.3%

 

LOCATION & COMMERCE RESULTS SUMMARY
	Q3/2012	Q3/2011	YoY Change	Q2/2012	QoQ Change
Net sales (EUR millions)	265	282	-6%	283	-6%
External net sales (EUR millions)	179	181	-1%	180	-1%
Internal net sales (EUR millions)	86	101	-15%	103	-17%
Non-IFRS gross margin (%)	80.4%	81.6%		77.4%
Non-IFRS operating expenses (EUR millions)	175	201	-13%	185	-5%
Non-IFRS operating margin (%)	14.0%	9.9%		14.5%

 

NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS RESULTS SUMMARY
	Q3/2012	Q3/2011	YoY Change	Q2/2012	QoQ Change
Net sales (EUR million)	3 501	3 413	3%	3 343	5%
Non-IFRS gross margin (%)	32.2%	26.8%		26.6%
Non-IFRS operating expenses (EUR million)	797	936	-15%	836	-5%
Non-IFRS operating margin (%)	9.2%	0.2%		0.8%

 

NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS NET SALES BY GEOGRAPHIC AREA
EUR millions	Q3/2012	Q3/2011	YoY Change	Q2/2012	QoQ Change
Europe	918	1 074	-15%	990	-7%
Middle East & Africa	325	301	8%	304	7%
Greater China	313	302	4%	340	-8%
Asia-Pacific	1 266	978	29%	1 028	23%
North America	285	304	-6%	300	-5%
Latin America	394	454	-13%	381	3%
Total	3501	3413	3%	3343	5%

 

Images from Titanas & squacco on Flickr (CC)

About Solon Harmony Dolor

A passion for technology and journalism makes this upcoming writer very interested in social media and technology news. Fresh from finishing an English and Journalism degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, he aims to bring interesting news to our readers .