2009 has proved to be a testing time for Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia, with the telecoms specialist reporting a 90 per cent fall in profits for Q1 2009.

Net profits reached €122m, heavily down on the €1.2bn in the same period in 2008.

Sales were also down, dropping 27 per cent from €12.7bn last year to €9.28bn. However, the results were not as bad as many had predicted, the result of which was an eight per cent increase to the company’s share price.

“In what has been an exceptionally tough environment, we continue to invest in a focused manner in consumer internet services delivered across our broad portfolio of mobile devices,” CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo stated.

“Combined, these solutions will drive our future growth. As an example in Q1, I am especially pleased with the performance of our first mass market touch product, the [touch screen] Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. Together with Comes With Music, it is a great example of Nokia providing solutions that consumers value.”