(MENAFN) Finnish telecom giant Nokia has reported a sharp 29% drop in its operating profit for the second quarter of 2025, according to its Q2 and half-year earnings report released Thursday.

During the April–June period, net sales increased slightly by 2% year-over-year, reaching 4.55 billion euros (equivalent to 5.35 billion U.S. dollars), up from 4.47 billion euros in Q2 2024. However, this modest revenue growth was overshadowed by a steep fall in operating profitability. Nokia’s comparable operating profit sank to 301 million euros, down from 423 million euros in the same quarter last year.

The company's performance over the first half of 2025 also showed a significant downturn. Comparable operating profit plunged 55% to 457 million euros, compared to 1.023 billion euros in the first six months of 2024. Additionally, the operating margin narrowed dramatically, falling to 5.1%, down from 11.5%.

Nokia blamed the sharp earnings decline primarily on severe currency volatility and ongoing tariff challenges.

"Turning to our second-quarter results, the significant currency fluctuations, particularly the weaker U.S. dollar, had a meaningful impact on both our net sales and operating profit," said Nokia President and CEO Justin Hotard in the report. He added that tariffs further eroded the company’s operating margin.

Looking forward, Hotard expressed optimism about several segments of the business. He predicted strong growth for Network Infrastructure, continued momentum in Cloud and Network Services, and steady sales in Mobile Networks. He also projected around 1.1 billion euros in operating profit from Nokia Technologies for the entire year.

"However, we are facing two headwinds to our full-year operating profit outlook that are beyond our control -- currency, due to the weaker U.S. dollar, and tariffs," Hotard said. He warned that current tariff levels could shave 50 million to 80 million euros off the company’s 2025 operating profit.

Earlier this week, on Tuesday, Nokia revised its full-year 2025 profit guidance downward. The company now expects comparable operating profit to fall within a range of 1.6 to 2.1 billion euros—lower than its earlier forecast of between 1.9 and 2.4 billion euros.

According to Helsingin Sanomat, the company is under increasing pressure, with its share price having dropped 20% since April. Analysts cited the long-term decline in the mobile networks sector as a key concern.
(1 euro = 1.18 U.S. dollars)

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