Nokia posts strong profit in 2021

Finnish telecoms giant Nokia reported a solid increase in profits in 2021 on Thursday and issued a confident outlook for the coming years as sales rose despite supply problems.

"I would like to call it a transformational year," CEO Pekka Lundmark told reporters after the group posted a net profit of 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion), driven by a 1.6 per cent increase in sales to 22.2 billion euros.

The results follow a string of quarterly earnings surprises for the network equipment maker, which has been flagging in the race for the 5G network equipment market against Sweden's Ericsson and China's Huawei.

Since taking the helm in 2019, Lundmark has overseen a wide-ranging restructuring and cost-cutting programme, with savings invested into developing new, more competitive products.