HELSINKI, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Finland's Nokian Tyres said it expects sales to grow this year but reported a drop in fourth-quarter earnings and warned that higher costs would dent its profitability going forward, sending its shares down more than 6%.

"During the second half of 2021, we witnessed a sharp increase in raw material and logistics costs," Chief Executive Jukka Moisio said in a statement.

Moisio reiterated his comment from last year, saying Nokian had raised prices and cut costs to protect its profitability.

Rising costs were especially visible in the heavy tires segment, where operating profit margin fell from 9.5% to 6.2%.

"Their pricing power did not work as well there as in passenger tires," Inderes analyst Joonas Korkiakoski told Reuters.

Shares of the company sank 6.2% to 28.09 euros at 1305 GMT.

Nokian also warned of the potential impact of current geopolitical crises on its operations.

"It would affect local business operations in Russia and through that, consumer purchasing power," Korkiakoski said, though he added that sales to Russia now account for much less than they did in 2014, when economic sanctions against Russia impacted the tire maker.

The company has been ramping up output to meet increasing demand by adding shifts to its factories in Finland and the United States. Last year, it said it aimed to produce 4 million units in 2022, twice as much as in 2020.

Core profit in the three months to Dec. 31 fell 25.8% year on year to 53 million euros ($60.54 million). Analysts had expected it to rise to 85.8 million euros, according to Refinitiv data.

($1 = 0.8755 euros) (Reporting by Essi Lehto, Editing by Louise Heavens and Bernadette Baum)