BlackBerry posts US$495-million loss in Q4 due to impairment charge

Behind the scenes of the BlackBerry movie It's not every day that Jim Balsillie tells you he never really liked the BlackBerry. BNN Bloomberg's David George-Cosh reports.

BlackBerry Ltd. reported a net loss of US$495 million in its fourth quarter, downfrom earning US$144 million a year earlier.

The Waterloo, Ont.-based technology company, which reports in U.S. dollars, says earnings per diluted share were negative 85 cents for the quarter ended Feb. 28, down from a three-cent loss a year earlier.

The company attributed its loss primarily to a $476-million non-cash, goodwill and long-lived asset impairment charge that affected its operating income.

Revenues for the fourth quarter were $151 million, down 18 per cent from $185 million a year earlier.

BlackBerry posted a loss of $734 million for the full financial year, down from $12 million in earnings for the prior year.

The company's executive chairman and CEO, John Chen, says BlackBerry's cybersecurity business unit saw the timing of several large government deals slip into later quarters, but he's confident they will close this fiscal year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2023.