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Net sales rose 10% to 5.98 bln euros vs 5.74 bln estimate

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CEO expects improving market trends to persist into 2025

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CEO expects Infinera ( INFN ) deal to close in Q1 vs H1 earlier

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CEO expects to benefit from Stargate project

(Adds comments from CEO interview in paragraphs 4, 7-8)

By Supantha Mukherjee

STOCKHOLM, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Finland's Nokia

reported stronger than expected fourth-quarter adjusted

operating profit and sales on Thursday, helped by higher demand

for telecoms gear from mobile operators in North America and

India, and forecast an upbeat 2025.

Net sales rose 10% to 5.98 billion euros ($6.2 billion),

beating analysts' estimate of 5.74 billion euros in an LSEG

poll.

The company said sales at its network infrastructure

business rose 17% due to a strong recovery in demand from

communication service providers, notably in North America.

"What we have seen previously is that when the markets turn,

the North American market turns first, both up and down," CEO

Pekka Lundmark told Reuters, adding that he expects improving

market trends to persist into 2025.

The company expects full-year profit of between 1.9 billion

euros and 2.4 billion euros, compared with an estimate of 2.13

billion euros on LSEG Workspace.

Nokia and its Nordic rival Ericsson have seen

double-digit growth in North America due to a rebound in demand

after years of weakness. Demand from Indian clients, which

dropped significantly after rapid growth in 2023, is also

recovering.

To tap the artificial intelligence boom, Nokia agreed to buy

Infinera ( INFN ) in a $2.3 billion deal last year to gain from

the billions of dollars in investment pouring into data centres

such as the $500 billion Stargate project backed by OpenAI,

SoftBank and Oracle.

"We have interest in all data centres and assuming that the

Stargate project will deliver, it will be an exciting market

opportunity for us," Lundmark said.

He now expects the Infinera ( INFN ) deal to close by the end of the

first quarter, instead of by the end of the first half of the

year.

Comparable earnings before interest and tax rose to 1.14

billion euros, beating the 960 million euros expected by

analysts in the LSEG poll.

($1 = 0.9597 euros)