(Bloomberg) -- Nokia Oyj shares fell after it missed estimates for third-quarter profits due to delayed licensing deals.  

Nokia reported operating profit rose 3.9% from a year earlier to €658 million ($644 million), the Finnish maker of mobile networks said in a statement Thursday. That missed analysts’ average €702.6 million estimate, according to a Bloomberg survey. Shares fell as much as 5% in Helsinki trading. 

Profit margins missed estimates due to delays in the signing of new patent and licensing agreements with handset makers Vivo Communication Technology Co Ltd. and Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp Ltd., according to analysts at Jefferies. 

“We are not going to just accept any deal that would be available,” Chief Executive Officer Pekka Lundmark said in an interview of the patent negotiations. “We believe that it’s more important for the longer term to protect the value of the patent portfolio, rather than rush with the timing.” 

Revenues grew thanks to demand for its mobile equipment and network infrastructure, seeing good demand for 5G in key regions like India. Nokia reiterated its full-year growth outlook for 2023.

Third-quarter sales rose 6% in constant currency to €6.24 billion, Nokia said. That compared to a €6.03 billion analyst outlook according to the average of estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

Nokia was down 4.1% to €4.5525 a share as of 9:16 a.m. in Helsinki, and have have declined 18% this year. The Espoo-based vendor posted results on the same day as top rival Ericsson AB in Sweden, which also reported a profit miss. 

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