BlackBerry posts $28 mn profit in Q4; revenue falls 32%

Canadian handset maker BlackBerry on Friday posted a profit of $28 million for the last quarter ending February helped by rising average selling price of its smartphones and growing traction in software business.

The firm's revenue fell by 32 per cent to $660 million in the February 28 ended December-February quarter, from $976 million in the same quarter of 2014 fiscal, it said in a statement. The revenue also includes a negative impact of $12 million on account of currency fluctuations.

The company follows March-February as fiscal year.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based firm had posted a net loss of $423 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2015 fiscal includes about 42 per cent from hardware, 47 per cent from services and 10 per cent from software, it said.

During the quarter the firm said that "... 1.6 million BlackBerry smartphones were sold through to end customers, with an average selling price of $211 compared with $180 in the previous quarter".

Commenting on the performance, BlackBerry Executive Chairman and CEO John Chen said: "Our focus this past year was on getting our financial house in order while creating a multi-year growth strategy and investing in our product portfolio."

For turnaround, the company will focus on stabilisation of revenue with sustainable profitability and cash generation in the second half of the year, he added.

Going ahead, BlackBerry said it continues to anticipate positive free cash flow.

"The company is expanding its distribution capability, and expects traction from these efforts to manifest some time in fiscal 2016. The company continues to target sustainable non-GAAP profitability some time in fiscal 2016," it added.

Total cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments was $3.27 billion as of February 28. Cash balance increased $156 million in the fourth quarter that includes net gains of $80 million related to acquisitions and divestitures during the quarter.

Purchase orders with contract manufacturers totalled approximately $394 million at the end of the fourth quarter compared with $565 million at the end of the third quarter.