Nokia warns 'more doom and gloom' to come

NEWS Mobile phone giant Nokia has warned that it is expecting to see a further decline in consumer spending over the coming year. Despite beating expectations with its fourth quarter results, the might Finn said it is bracing itself for a weak first quarter. Nokia reported fourth quarter profits of 28 cents per share - beating the 25 to 27 cents per share it had predicted. For the comparable quarter of 2001, Nokia's profits were 26 cents per share. Warning that Nokia is unlikely to enjoy similar success in the first quarter of 2003, CEO Jorma Ollila told a news conference: "Economies are in a very slow growth state at the moment, so conditions do remain challenging in 2003, and this really seems to be affecting the way the year will start. That gives us reason to be cautions in our view on how we look at the first quarter.''