Nokia sells Nextrom stake

HELSINKI: Nokia has sold all its shares in loss-making Swiss fiber-optics subcontractor Nextrom Holding S.A. to Knill Gruppe for some 8 million Swiss francs ($7.06 million), Nokia said in a statement.

The deal includes shares representing some 80 percent of Nextrom and the transfer of Nokia's loan agreement with Nextrom to privately owned Austrian group Knill.

Nextrom made an operating loss before exceptional items of 19.8 million Swiss francs in 2003 on gross sales of 17.1 million, according to the company's annual report.