Nokia’s mapping business helped boost its lackluster earnings

Shares of Nokia fell more than 12 percent on Thursday after the company’s networking division reported disappointing results. But a bright spot was its “Here” mapping division, which is rumored to be a potential acquisition target for Apple. Revenue at Nokia was up 20 percent year over year to 3.2 billion euros, but operating profits fell to just 265 million euros. The brunt of that was felt by the Nokia Networks division, which saw its profitability take a significant hit — falling more than 60 percent to just 85 million euros, despite seeing an increase in total revenue. Investors were discouraged by what they saw out of Nokia’s earnings and the stock tumbled on Thursday. Still, there were bright spots for the company, which got out of the smartphone business by selling its Lumia handset division in 2013 for $7.2 billion. Among the positives for Nokia was its mapping division, dubbed “Here,” which boosted profit by 20 percent to 162 million euros.