Nokia, the world's top cell phone maker, reported a 57 percent rise in earnings per share from October to December, with booming demand in emerging markets boosting its global market share to 40 percent.Nokia's fourth-quarter earnings per share, minus one-off items, rose to 0.47 euros (about 68 cents), helped by buoyant demand for cheap phones in emerging Asian markets, and beating the average forecast of 0.44 euros in a Reuters poll of 34 analysts.
Shares in Nokia soared on the news and were up 14.3 percent at 23.71 euros ($34.61) in early trading on Thursday.
Nokia sold 133.5 million phones in the quarter, more than its three closest rivals combined, and beating analysts' average forecast of 130.7 million phones in the poll.
Nokia and other large vendors increased their market share in the quarter at the expense of
"Again we see a testament (that) whatever Motorola is losing, Nokia is gaining. And that trend was true throughout 2007, and the question is whether it will continue through 2008. If it will, we need to upgrade numbers," said analyst David Hallden, CAI Cheuvreux.
Nokia said it expected its market share to stay at the 40 percent level in the first quarter, but it is targeting market share growth in 2008.
"I believe the competitive environment will be a bit better than the market expected," said Glitnir analyst Pasi Vaisanen.
Nokia said the average price of phones sold rose from the previous quarter to $121.18 (83 euros), beating analysts' average expectation of $119.72 (82 euros).
Helped by its larger scale, Nokia boasts much stronger profit margins than its rivals; the operating profit margin from its three cell phone business units rose to 23.8 percent.
Its closest rivals in terms of profitability, Sony Ericsson and Samsung Electronics, reported profit margins of 13 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively.
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