STOCKHOLM--Nokia Corp. (NOK) is set to commence its share
buyback program after the publication of its second quarter
earnings in late July, the company said Wednesday.
The share buyback plan is part of a EUR5 billion ($6.8 billion)
capital optimization effort that the Finnish company announced as
it completed the sale of its handset business to Microsoft Corp.
(MSFT) in late April this year.
Nokia said it will repurchase a maximum of 370 million shares,
up to an equivalent of EUR1.25 billion, and that it is authorized
to buy back shares until Dec. 17, 2015.
Having relieved itself of its loss making mobile device
business, Nokia is also paying a EUR800 million dividend for 2013
and 2014 and a separate one-time dividend of 26 euro cents a share,
or about EUR1 billion.
The company's second quarter earnings report is due next month,
on July 24.
Write to Sven Grundberg at sven.grundberg@wsj.com; Twitter:
@svengrundberg
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