Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark (pictured) provided details of a promised revision to its long-term outlook, as he again hailed the benefits of a strategy shake-up which continues to drive its turnaround.

The Finland-based equipment manufacturer replaced its former 2023 outlook with targets covering the next three- to five-years. Broadly, the targets are for net sales to grow faster than the market and comparable operating margins of at least 14 per cent, replacing its earlier 2023 target of between 11 per cent and 13 per cent.

In 2022, net sales are predicted to increase to between €22.6 billion and €23.8 billion, up from €22.2 billion in 2021, with a comparable operating margin in the range of 11 per cent to 13.5 per cent.

Nokia reported a comparable operating margin of 12.5 per cent for 2021 as a whole.

Thanks to its improved cash generation, a more confident Nokia also plans to reinstate payments to shareholders, with a proposed 2021 dividend of €0.08 per share and a €600 million share buy-back programme over two years. The vendor last made a dividend payment in 2019.

Lundmark stated Nokia’s strong performance in 2021 “and a faster than expected reset of our business”, have created the foundations to “move into the next phase of our strategy to deliver growth and expand profitability”.

“We have now largely caught up competition in 5G,” Lundmark told Reuters. “We have created a foundation for growth acceleration, the year of reset is behind us, now we are accelerating.”

He highlighted opportunities in operator rollouts of 5G networks and the “growing” enterprise market, although he warned the global supply chain situation remains tight.