Telecom equipment venture Nokia Siemens Networks aims for an operating profit margin of up to 3 percent on revenue of between 3.1-3.4 billion euros ($3.88-$4.25 billion) in the current quarter, according to a Sunday newspaper.

The development in new orders and revenue here (in Western Europe) in the current quarter have so far been better than expected, said NSN manager Hermann Rodler in an interview with the Euro am Sonntag.

The company made a surprise operating profit of 15 million euros in the previous quarter.

In Southern Europe, Rodler said he expected cancellations or delays in some orders following the austerity programs in place to reduce burgeoning fiscal deficits.

Customers which are partly owned by indebted euro zone governments will likely have difficulty refinancing their projects due to a knock on effects to their creditworthiness, as debt ratings of countries like Greece or regions such as Navarre and Basque in Spain deteriorate.

NSN competes with rivals like Alcatel-Lucent , Ericsson and low-cost Chinese vendor Huawei .

(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner)

Electronics