BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) released the results from its fourth fiscal quarter, before opening bell this morning, posting adjusted losses of 8 cents per share on revenue of $976 million—an 18% decline year over year. Analysts had been expecting losses of 57 cents per share on revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter which ended March 1, 2014.
Breaking down BlackBerry’s quarterly results
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) reported that about 37% of its quarterly revenue was hardware, while 56% was services and 7% was software and other revenue. BlackBerry recognized sales of about 1.3 million smartphones during the quarter, which is a decline from 1.9 million in the previous quarter. The company reported that it sold through about 3.4 million smartphones to end customers during the quarter. That included shipments made and recognized before the fourth quarter which reduced BlackBerry’s channel inventory. Of that number, about 2.3 million of them were BlackBerry 7 devices.
GAAP loss from continuing operations was 80 cents per share. This included a non-cash charge from the “change in the fair value of the Debentures of approximately $382 million.” BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) also included a pre-tax recovery of “previously recorded inventory charges,” which amounted to about $149 million, and pre-tax restructuring charges of about $148 million in connection with its Cost Optimization and Resource Efficiency (CORE) program. In the previous quarter, the company posted losses of $8.37 a share.
Charges excluded from BlackBerry’s adjusted results
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) reported that its adjusted losses of 8 cents per share excluded impacts from the “non-cash Q4 Fiscal 2014 Debentures Fair Value Adjustment,” which amounted to about $382 million after tax. The company also excluded $149 million in inventory recovery and $148 million in pretax restructuring charges in connection with its CORE program. BlackBerry Chairman and CEO John Chen believes they have made meaningful progress in turning the struggling handset maker around.
“I am very pleased with our progress and execution in fiscal Q4 against the strategy we laid out three months ago. We have significantly streamlined operations, allowing us to reach our expense reduction target one quarter ahead of schedule,” said Chen in a statement. “BlackBerry is on sounder financial footing today with a path to returning to growth and profitability.”
BlackBerry lists full-year results
For the full 2014 fiscal year, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) said revenue was $6.8 billion, a 38% decline from 2013. Its GAAP net losses from continuing operations were $1.20 a share for the full year. Adjusted losses for the fiscal year were $1.35 per share and excluded impacts from impairment charges, inventory recovery and charges, Debentures Fair Value Adjustment, charges from the CORE program, and charges related to the strategic review process.
BlackBerry looks ahead
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) said it expects to maintain its strong cash position and will continue to streamline its operations. It aims to be break even in cash flow by the end of the 2015 fiscal year, which started March 2, 2014. BlackBerry provided no further details on guidance in this morning’s earnings release.
