‘We’re very patient. We don’t want to be over-paying’

Continued from FP1

Now, CEO John Chen said his company is winning again. In a call with analysts, he pointed to contracts with the U.S. government — BlackBerry had 23 transactions of more than US$100,000, seven larger than US$500,000 and five of more than US$1 million with federal agencies in the last quarter — and a few awards and accolades for its security acumen as signs of success in the enterprise software realm, its biggest cash driver.

BlackBerry also announced its first “BlackBerry Secure” licensing deal with NTD, a Yangzhou- and Beijing-based manufacturer of smartphones and Internet of Things devices. It will embed BlackBerry’s security software into its devices for a fee, a business model that Chen expects to drive growth for the second half of the year. He sees opportunities in securing not only smartphones, but laptops, IoT devices and sensors, to start.

“I don’t see a limit to my ability to license software technology,” Chen said in a call with media.

The company also has an appetite for mergers and acquisitions, Chen said. While he didn’t reveal specific plans for the US$1.9-billion stockpile of cash, much of it an award from a dispute with Qualcomm, he said the company is looking at buying players in cyber-security, automotive and enterprise management.

“We’re going to make acquisitions. We’re very patient. We don’t want to be over-paying,” he told media.

When it comes to automotive technology, Chen doesn’t expect self-driving cars to hit the roads as early as others in the industry.

“Everyone says 2021, I don’t believe it,” but he is setting up the company to compete in that world.

“We have to win that for the future, but today there’s a lot of opportunity on the connected ones,” Chen said.

To that end, he noted there are about 60 million cars built annually that include some sort of intelligent software, such as the technology provided by the QNX unit.

BlackBerry also upgraded its outlook for the year, stating it expects software revenue to grow by 10 per cent to 15 per cent this fiscal year, which ends in February.

Revenue fell to US$249 million from US$352 million a year earlier but rose slightly from US$244 million in the prior quarter. Net income for the quarter was US$19 million, or 4 cents per share.

Excluding restructuring costs and other items, BlackBerry said it expected fiscalyear revenue of US$920 million to US$950 million and positive earnings per share. It also forecast positive free cash flow.