Nokia has published its fourth quarter and full-year financial results for 2012, moving back into profit during Q4 for the first time in over a year. However, the annual figure still shows a loss and the company is proposing not to make a dividend payment to shareholders.

Net profit for the quarter was €255 million, although there was a €3.8 billion loss for the year. Net sales for Q4 were down 20% year-on-year to €8.04 billion for the quarter and down 22% to €30.18 billion for the full 12 months.

Overall, 335.6 million Nokia mobile devices were sold in 2012, a 20% drop from 2011. Smart device sales were down 55% to 35.1 million units while standard mobile phones sales were down 12% to 300.5 million units.

In line with the interim announcement earlier this month, smartphone sales for Q4 2012 totalled 15.9 million units, consisting of 9.3 million Asha touch-screen smartphones (not classified as ‘smart devices’ by Nokia) along with 4.4 million Lumia smartphones and 2.2 million Symbian smartphones.

Stephen Elop, Nokia’s CEO, said “We are very encouraged that our team's execution against our business strategy has started to translate into financial results. Most notably we are pleased that Nokia Group reached underlying operating profitability in the fourth quarter and for the full year 2012. While the first half of 2012 was difficult for Nokia Group, in Q4 2012 we strengthened our financial position, improved our underlying operating margin in Devices & Services, introduced the HERE brand to expand our mapping and location experiences, and drove record profitability in Nokia Siemens Networks. We remain focused on moving through our transition, which includes continuing to improve our product competitiveness, accelerate the way we operate and manage our costs effectively. All of these efforts are aimed at improving our financial performance and delivering more value to our shareholders.”

[Presentation (pdf)]