HELSINKI (AP) — Nokia has reported increased fourth-quarter earnings on the back of grown orders from telecom operators of new-generation mobile networks that are expected to be rolled out commercially this year.

The Espoo, Finland-based company said Thursday that its net profit for the October-December period was 741 million euros ($852 million), against 716 million euros a year earlier. Sales were up 3 percent at 6.9 billion euros.

Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri said the company's performance is expected to improve further this year as "a fast and meaningful shift" into the new 5G networks takes place.

He said particularly the latter part of 2019 is expected to be "robust" with operators worldwide updating their existing networks and technology.