Nokia's network margins seen falling in second-quarter: Reuters poll

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Nokia is expected to report profit margin at its core networks business fell to 7.7 percent in the second quarter from 9.3 percent in the first quarter as a result of weaker software sales, a Reuters poll of analysts showed.

On Friday, Nokia's bigger rival Ericsson posted stronger-than-expected results on the back of strong sales in North America.

Nokia in April closed the deal to sell its former flagship phone business to Microsoft, and named Rajeev Suri, previously the head of the networks arm, as the new group chief executive.

Of the 18 analysts who gave their rating on Nokia stock, 8 were positive, 7 negative, and 3 neutral. Estimate figures are in millions of euros, except for EPS and dividend in euros.

Analysts from the following banks and brokerages contributed to this poll: ABG Sundal Collier, Berenberg Bank, BMO Capital Markets, Carnegie, DNB Markets, Evli, Exane BNP Paribas, Grupo Santander, Handelsbanken Capital Markets, Independent Research, Inderes, Jefferies & CO., Kepler Cheuvreux, Liberum Capital, Morningstar, Natixis, Nordea Markets, Pohjola, RBC Capital Markets, Redeye, Sanford Bernstein & CO, SEB Equity Research, Societe Generale and Swedbank Markets.

(Reporting by Helsinki Newsroom)