Nokia sees third-quarter turn to profit as sales grow after sale of phone unit to Microsoft

Nokia Corp. appears to have turned around its fortunes after the sale of its ailing cellphone unit to Microsoft, reporting a third-quarter net profit of 747 million euros ($950 million), from a loss of 91 million euros a year earlier. Sales growth was 13 percent compared to 2013.

But the Finnish telecommunications and wireless equipment maker's result was hit by a 2.1 billion euros impairment charge for HERE mapping services in the period.

CEO Rajeev Suri said Thursday that Nokia saw improvements in all three remaining operation areas, and the company predicted strong growth in its networks sector, which accounts for around 90 percent of Nokia's revenue.

Sales in the period grew to 3.3 billion euros, from 2.9 billion euros a year earlier.