Nokia Reports Q3

ESPOO, Finland -- Nokia sales return to growth with strong profitability.Third-quarter 2002 (IAS) compared with third-quarter 2001:

JORMA OLLILA, CHAIRMAN AND CEO:Nokia's third-quarter results were greatly encouraging, marking a return to top-line growth with pro forma earnings per share at EUR 0.18, ahead of earlier guidance. The strength of this performance speaks very highly for our people and my thanks go to the whole Nokia team.In clear demonstration of our strong execution and consistent approach to operational efficiency, we were again able to sustain strong profitability and a very high operating cash flow of EUR 2.2 billion. In mobile phones, pro forma operating profit rose by an outstanding 25%, compared with the third quarter last year, with margins exceeding expectations at a very healthy 22.2%. I am also very satisfied with Nokia's overall market position and market share developments throughout the year.Color and multimedia are adding excitement to mobile communications. The handset market is entering a new growth period spurred by the arrival of an increasing number of mass volume products with color and multimedia messaging capability, all enriching the customer experience. Current visibility suggests overall market volume for 2002 will reach our earlier expectations of 400 million units sold.Compelling new services and phone features are increasingly moving both business people and consumers from a very large existing subscriber base to upgrade their phones, or even look towards owning more than one device.The mobile network infrastructure market remains challenging with continued low investments. However, we have seen significant progress in the third-generation WCDMA rollout. Pre-commercial network launches are underway and manufacturers and operators are completing interoperability testing.I have no doubt that wireless wideband technology will become vital for capacity, speed and quality of service, as the industry moves forward at full speed. In September, we demonstrated our first dual-mode WCDMA/GSM phone on a live network. Type approval tests for the Nokia 6650 have been passed and we are ready to begin shipments to operators. We expect the 3G business system to be sufficiently mature to support broad handset shipments within the first half 2003.New mobile services are being introduced in the majority of networks. We are more than pleased by the fast-paced take up of multimedia messaging, with over 50 network operators in Europe and Asia already offering multimedia messaging services. This to me is clear indication that digital convergence in mobility has become a reality. Completely new categories of devices, such as phones with integrated cameras, have begun to redefine the scope and scale of the market, greatly expanding Nokia's future potential for growth.Nokia Corp.