Analyst: Nokia Corp. May Do Big Buyback In 2016

Nokia Corp. NOK may authorize additional share repurchases next year after the completion of its$16.6 billion acquisition of Alcatel Lucent SA ALU, an analyst said Tuesday. J.P. Morgan's Rod Hall said that following completion of the all-stock deal next year, Nokia will look at "optimizing their capital structure," and a buyback or other cash return is possible. Nokia shares are off nearly 5 percent since the deal was confirmed April 14. Shares traded recently at $7.86, up $0.24 cents. Alcatel Lucent was changing hands at $4.05, up 4.7 percent. Hall likened the potential move to Nokia's decision last year to declare a $1.38 billion one-time dividend coupled with a $1.7 billion buyback and $3 billion in debt repayment. The earlier action by Nokia followed the closing of its $7.2 billion sale of its handset business to Microsoft Inc. MSFT. Regarding the Alcatel deal, Hall said Nokia refrained from using cash in its proposal so that competitors, notably Ericsson ERIC, "don't pick up on a weak balance sheet" and take undue advantage. Nokia is unrated by Hall, who outlined further details offered by Nokia regarding its plan to acquire Alcatel. Hall didn't comment on multiple unconfirmed reports that surfaced Monday on Nokia plans to re-enter the smartphone market in 2016.