Blackberry ekes out profit as revenues plunge

MONTREAL - Canada's BlackBerry said Friday it posted a modest profit in the past quarter, beating expectations, despite a continued slide in its revenues.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company posted earnings of US$28 million (S$38 million) in the quarter ending February 28, compared to a US$423 million loss a year earlier.

Its fourth quarter revenues, meanwhile, were US$660 million - down 32 per cent from a year earlier and 16 per cent from the prior quarter.

About 10 per cent of its revenues were generated from software sales, while the remainder was split between service and smartphone sales.

Approximately 1.6 million BlackBerry smartphones were sold through to end customers in the quarter, the company said.

For the full fiscal year, BlackBerry ended narrowed its losses.

It posted a $304 million loss on revenues of $3.3 billion for the year ended February 28, 2015, compared to a $5.9 billion loss the previous fiscal year.

BalckBerry, a smartphone leader a decade ago, has been forced into a major reorganisation focusing more on software and services since being overtaken in the market for mobile devices.

An IDC survey showed BlackBerry managed to capture just 0.4 per cent of global smartphone sales in 2014.