Blackberry reports revenues to have fallen and keeping quiet on Android-based device Priv
Blackberry reported a net loss for the three months to the end of February as it kept quiet on the sales of its new Android smartphone.
The figures
Blackberry reported a net loss for the quarter of $238m, down from a profit of $28m the year prior.
For the full year, Blackberry announced a net loss of $208m, up from a loss of $304m in the previous year.
Excluding one off items, a loss for the quarter of $18m was reported.
Overall revenue for the quarter fell to $464m.
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Why it's interesting
The company reported a loss in its latest quarter, but one that was smaller than anticipated.
And once adjusted for one time items, the Canadian smartphone maker said it lost $18m – or $0.03 per share. That compares to expectations of a loss of $0.10 cents per share.
Read more: Blackberry confirms a new Android smartphone called "Priv"
But revenue fell more than analysts had expected. And the company was notably silent on Priv, its Android-based device that was confirmed in September and launched in November.
According to the Financial Times, the company broke with tradition in its decision to omit the number of phones it sold in the fourth quarter.
Read more: Blackberry acquires British cybersecurity company Encription
That's particularly interesting given the company has put a lot of its turnaround efforts under John Chen on new smartphones including Priv, but also higher-margin mobile-device management software and services.
Good news then that Blackberry expects to grow software and services by around 30 percent in 2017.
What Blackberry said
Chief executive John Chen said:
Overall, BlackBerry’s fourth quarter performance was solid as we made progress on the key elements of our strategy, which are to grow software faster than the mobility software market, achieve device profitability and generate positive free cash flow.
We have clearly gained traction and market share in enterprise software. We more than doubled our software and licensing revenue in the fourth quarter and exceeded our target of $500m for the full year. Looking to 2017, our strategy is on track and our growth engines are in place to continue to generate above market growth in software and achieve our profitability objectives.