Nokia beats esimates; Growth forecast is raised

"With half a year visibility, we're able to say growth will be 10 percent or more," Nokia's Chief Financial Officer Rick Simonson said in an interview, higher than the Espoo, Finland-based company's previous forecast of 10 percent.

Simonson said Nokia expects the mobile phone industry to weather any global economic slowdown because the devices have become such a part of people's lives.

Nokia's share price had plunged about 40 percent this year amid concerns the mobile phone industry would suffer as the credit crunch and inflation take their toll on economic growth and consumers' spending power. However, Simonson said demand for cell phones will remain high even as consumers face tough choices on how to spend their income.

"One of the highest priorities is to use their usable income to insure that they have communications," Simonson said in a phone interview. Nokia, he added, has "an ability to play all markets. Some markets are growing strongly, some not so strongly but we aren't trapped to one market only."

Nokia's profit was $1.75 billion, or 46 cents per share, down from $4.49 billion, or $1.14 per share, a year earlier.

Sales rose 4 percent to $20.87 billion.

The 2007 second-quarter result included a $2.98 billion gain from the formation of Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture with Germany's Siemens AG.

Excluding special items, Nokia said its profit rose 8 percent to $2.18 billion.

Analysts expected earnings of 56 cents per share on $20.05 billion in revenue, on average, according to Thomson Financial.