Finnish telecoms equipment maker Nokia said on Thursday that it returned to profit in the first three months of the current year, boosted by stronger-than-expected demand for its 5G products and it is sticking to its forecast for the whole of 2021.

The networks giant said in a statement it rang up net profit of €261 million in the period from January to March, compared with a bottom-line loss of €117 million a year earlier.

Revenues were up 3.3 per cent at €5.0 billion, outpacing analysts’ expectations for first-quarter sales of around €4.7 billion. 

“We have delivered a robust start to the start of the year with strong net sales, operating margin and cash flow,” said chief executive Pekka Lundmark. “I was particularly pleased by strong sales growth across our Network Infrastructure business group driven by increasing demand for next generation connectivity,” he said.

I was particularly pleased by strong sales growth across our Network Infrastructure business group driven by increasing demand for next generation connectivity- Nokia chief executive Pekka Lundmark

The world's third-biggest 5G networks supplier, Nokia is struggling to keep up with rivals Ericsson of Sweden and China’s Huawei, with Nokia losing out on a major Verizon contract in the US last year which will impact the outlook into 2022. 

In March, Lundmark announced the company will slash up to 10,000 jobs – equivalent to 11 per cent of its workforce – in a major cost-cutting drive. 

On the basis of its first-quarter performance, Nokia said it was maintaining its full-year forecast for sales of €20.6 to €21.8 billion and an operating margin of 7-10 per cent.