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BlackBerry grows software sales, reduces losses
2015-06-23 14:39:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) BlackBerry further narrowed its losses in its fiscal first quarter to May and reiterated its target to return to underlying profitability in the current fiscal year. The adjusted net loss shrunk to USD 28 million or 5 cents a share in the first quarter from a loss of 11 cents per share in the year-earlier period. On a reported basis, the company had a net profit of USD 68 million, thanks to a revaluation gain on debt and despite another USD 61 million in restructuring charges. Revenues were still down sharply to USD 658 million from USD 966 million a year ago. The share of revenues from handsets fell to 40 percent in Q1, while services took 38 percent and software and technology licensing accounted for 21 percent. Blackberry said software and technology licensing revenue was up 150 percent from a year earlier to USD 137 million. The company added 2,600 enterprise customers in the quarter, of which around 45 percent of the licences covered additional platforms to its own. It also shipped 1.1 million BlackBerry smartphones in the three months, with an average selling price of USD 240 each. Free cash flow was a positive USD 123 million in Q1, and adjusted EBITDA improved 5 percent year-on-year to USD 157 million. Total cash was up by USD 50 million in the three months to USD 3.32 billion at the end of May. BlackBerry said it intends to remain free-cash flow positive this fiscal year, as well as return to a "sustainable" adjusted profit before year-end. CEO John Chen said he was pleased with the growth in the software and technology business and the company was also making progress in turning the handset business profitable.
Tags: software
sales
losses
reduces
Category:Telecommunications