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HELSINKI, July 05, 2013 (AFP) -Rating agency Standard & Poor (S&P) cut its notation of fallen mobile phone maker Nokia on Friday, because of the cost to the company of buying out a joint venture with German firm Siemens.
S&P cut the Finnish group's long-term debt rating by one notch to B+ from BB-.
Nokia has agreed to buy the shares held by Siemens in joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN).
Nokia said on Monday it would buy 50% of telecom equipment maker NSN for €1.7bn ($2.2bn), allowing it to take full control of its most profitable business.
This initially pushed up the depressed price of shares in Nokia, since NSN performs strongly whereas Nokia as a telecom-equipment group is struggling.
But the acquisition will cut into the mobile maker's cash reserves, and this led S&P to lower its estimate of net cash at the end of this year to €1.3bn, less than half a previous estimate of €3bn ($3.9bn).
"Nokia's strong balance sheet, which we view as an offsetting factor to Nokia's cash burn and supportive to the rating, will weaken following the acquisition," the credit rating agency wrote.
On Wednesday, Moody's said it had placed the company's Ba3 rating on review for downgrade.
Once the star performer on the Helsinki stock exchange, Nokia has seen its market value plunge by 30% in the past two years.
By contrast, South Korean rival Samsung, which has taken a leading position as a maker of mobile devices, said on Friday it expected to post fresh record profits in the second quarter.
It forecast a 47% rise in operating profit from the figure in thesame period a year ago, to 9.5trn won (€6.3bn, $8.3bn).
However, the firm, the world's largest maker of high-end smartphones, failed to meet analyst expectations, fuelling concerns about flagging demand for its products.
