Tyre maker Nokian's fourth quarter profit falls, beats forecasts

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish tyre maker Nokian Tyres on Tuesday reported a 4.4 percent fall in fourth-quarter operating profit to 117.2 million euros (102.8 million pounds) but beat analysts forecasts.

Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected a profit of 113 million euros.

Nokian, which has a large plant in Russia and a smaller one in Finland, said 2019 sales on a constant currency basis are expected to grow while operating profit should be similar to 2018.

(Reporting by Anne Kauranen and Tarmo Virki; editing by Jason Neely)