HELSINKI, April 17: Nokia, the world’s leading mobile phone maker, on Thursday posted strong first quarter results but saw its market share slip and missed market forecasts, sending its share price tumbling.

Net profit for the January-March period rose 25 per cent to 1.22 billion euros ($1.95 billion) from the same quarter a year ago, while sales grew 13 per cent to 12.66 billion euros, the company said in a statement.

The Finnish mobile phone giant’s market share in the first quarter of the year stood at 39 per cent, compared to 36 per cent a year ago, but down from 40 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Nokia said it expected its market share to increase in the second quarter compared to the first three months of the year.

The company said its handsets on average sold for 79 euros each in the first quarter, missing analyst estimates for a price of 81 euros.

It reiterated that it expected the global mobile device market to grow by around 10 per cent this year.

After the results, Nokia shares plunged 8.11 per cent to 19.25 euros on the Helsinki stock market, which was down 0.57 per cent. —AFP