Nokia axes sales chief after first-quarter loss

Nokia ditched its sales chief and promised to slash more costs yesterday, as the Finnish cellphone maker posted a loss for the first quarter.

It said Colin Giles will leave as the team is restructured to speed up sales.

Stephen Elop, Nokia's chief executive, said: "We exceeded expectations in markets including the US, but establishing momentum in certain markets, including the UK, has been more challenging."

Nokia reported a loss of €0.08 per share for the quarter after warning last week its phone business would post losses in the first half of this year, as sales of its new Microsoft Windows phones fail to compensate for shrinking sales of legacy models.