Blackberry reports US$56M loss in Q4
Blackberry Ltd. says it uncovered another US$55 million in cost savings in its latest quarter, when it reported a Us$56-million loss.
But chief financial officer Steve Rai said, “there’s still more opportunities to be more efficient.”
On a Wednesday call to discuss the Waterloo, Ont.based technology company’s latest financial results, he said there’s a number of structural items, ranging from legal entity structures to simplifying IT systems and back office infrastructure, that the company can undertake.
“Those types of things are bigger rocks and that doesn’t happen overnight,” he told analysts.
“We’ll obviously actively (be) looking at how to go about that and formulating the plans to execute on those.”
In the company’s third quarter it reduced its head count by about 200.
Rai’s remarks came as the company reported a Us$56-million loss in its fourth quarter, which compared with a loss of US$495 million a year ago.
Blackberry, which reports its earnings in U.S. dollars, said the fourth-quarter loss amounts to US10 cents per diluted share compared with a loss of US85 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
Its revenue for the quarter ended Feb. 29 was US$173 million compared with US$151 million in the prior year’s fourth quarter.
Revenue from its Internet of Things business marked a new quarterly record of US$66 million, up from US$53 million in the prior fourth quarter.
Blackberry’s cybersecurity revenue totalled US$92 million, up from the US$88 million seen a year earlier.
On the same call as Rai, chief executive John Giamatteo praised the company’s results.
“Blackberry delivered a solid quarter where we either met or exceeded expectations and, in the process, set a number of new records,” he said.
Blackberry spent much of the quarter working to separate its Internet of Things and cybersecurity divisions from one another.
Giamatteo said the company is still working on its strategy to establish two profitable stand-alone divisions.