BlackBerry sells 1-million Z10 handsets

In the announcement of results for its profitable fourth quarter, BlackBerry revealed it had sold 1-million units of the new Z10 handset running the BlackBerry 10 operating system.

Research In Motion Limited (doing business as BlackBerry) yesterday reported $2,7-billion revenue for the three months and fiscal year ended March 2, 2013, with a profit of $94-million. It also revealed that it had shipped approximately 1 million BlackBerry 10 units, namely the Z10, and a total of 6-million BlackBerry phones. However, it’s subscriber base has slipped to 76-million as existing users migrated to other platforms.

Revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 was approximately $2.7 billion, down $49 million or 2% from approximately $2.7 billion in the previous quarter and down 36% from $4.2 billion in the same quarter of fiscal 2012.

The revenue breakdown for the quarter was approximately 61% for hardware, 36% for service and 3% for software and other revenue. During the quarter, BlackBerry shipped approximately 6 million BlackBerry smartphones and approximately 370,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets.

GAAP income for the quarter from continuing operations was $94 million, or $0.18 per share diluted, compared with the GAAP income from continuing operations of $14 million, or $0.03 per share diluted, in the prior quarter and a GAAP loss from continuing operations of $118 million, or $0.23 per share diluted, in the same quarter of fiscal 2012. GAAP income for the quarter, including income from discontinued operations, was $98 million, or $0.19 per share diluted, compared with the GAAP income including loss from discontinued operations of $9 million, or $0.02 per share diluted, in the prior quarter and a GAAP loss, including loss from discontinued operations of $125 million, or $0.24 per share diluted, in the same quarter of fiscal 2012.

Adjusted income from continuing operations for the fourth quarter was $114 million, or $0.22 per share diluted. Adjusted income and adjusted diluted earnings per share (‚”EPS‚”) exclude the impact of pre-tax charges of $29 million ($20 million on an after-tax basis) related to the Cost Optimization and Resource Efficiency (‚”CORE‚”) program. This impact on GAAP income from continuing operations and diluted EPS are summarized in the table below.

The total of cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments was approximately $2.9 billion as of March 2, 2013 and at the end of the previous quarter. Cash flow from operations in the fourth quarter was approximately $219 million. Uses of cash included intangible asset additions of approximately $235 million and capital expenditures of approximately $88 million.

‚”We have implemented numerous changes at BlackBerry over the past year and those changes have resulted in the Company returning to profitability in the fourth quarter,‚” said Thorsten Heins, President and CEO. ‚”With the launch of BlackBerry 10, we have introduced the newest and what we believe to be the most innovative mobile computing platform in the market today. Customers love the device and the user experience, and our teams and partners are now focused on getting those devices into the hands of BlackBerry consumer and enterprise customers.‚”

Heins added, ‚”As we go into our new fiscal year, we are excited with the opportunities for the BlackBerry 10 platform, and the commitments we are seeing from our global developers and partners. We are also excited about the new, dynamic culture at BlackBerry, where we are laser-focused on continuing to drive efficiency and improve the Company’s profitability while driving innovation. We have built an engine that is able to drive improved financial performance at lower volumes, which should allow us to generate additional benefits from higher volumes in the future.‚”

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