PDActions

"Waterloo, Ontario - Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM), a world leader in the mobile communications market, today reported results for the three months and fiscal year ended March 4, 2006 (all figures in U.S. dollars and U.S. GAAP).

Revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006 was $561.2 million, up 39% from $404.8 million in the same quarter of last year. The revenue breakdown for the quarter was approximately 70% for handhelds, 21% for service, 5% for software and 4% for other revenue. Revenue for the fiscal year ended March 4, 2006 was $2.07 billion, up 53% from $1.35 billion last year. Total handheld devices shipped in the quarter were approximately 1.1 million, for a total of approximately 4.0 million handheld devices shipped during fiscal 2006.

RIM has updated its accounting for the patent litigation following the settlement announced on March 3, 2006. At the end of RIM’s fiscal third quarter, RIM had an accrued liability of $450 million relating to the patent litigation. The $162.5 million difference between the amount previously accrued and the full and final settlement amount of $612.5 million, was expensed and recorded in operating results in the quarter ended March 4, 2006.

“We recently passed the $2 billion annual revenue and 5 million subscribers milestones and we have begun the new fiscal year with over 150 carrier partners around the world,” said Jim Balsillie, Chairman and Co-CEO at RIM. “Our strong market position together with our continuing technology leadership and our unique ability to provide customers and partners with a comprehensive wireless solution presents great opportunity for RIM in the new fiscal year.”

GAAP net income for the quarter was $18.4 million, or $0.10 per share diluted, as compared with a net loss of $2.6 million or $(0.01) per share diluted, in the same quarter last year. Adjusted EPS, excluding the settlement and litigation related charges and the related tax impact, was $0.65 per share diluted. A reconciliation of adjusted EPS to GAAP EPS is provided in the table below. Adjusted earnings per share do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and may not be comparable to similar metrics presented by other companies.

RIM added approximately 625,000 new subscriber accounts during the quarter and at the end of the quarter, the total BlackBerry subscriber account base was approximately 4.9 million. The number of subscriber accounts is a non-financial metric and does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and is unlikely to be comparable to similar metrics reported by other companies. It is intended to illustrate the growth in RIM’s subscriber account base and should not be relied upon as an indicator of RIM’s financial performance.

“We have seen a recovery in subscriber additions and business momentum since RIM settled the patent litigation,” said Dennis Kavelman, Chief Financial Officer at RIM. “We have been very encouraged by the increasingly positive indications from customers and partners over the past several weeks, but we also believe it is important to remain prudent in our outlook as we continue to monitor and foster the post-settlement momentum throughout Q1 and Q2.”

Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2007 ending June 3, 2006 is expected to be in the range of $580-$610 million. Subscriber account additions in the first quarter are expected to be approximately 675,000. GAAP earnings per share for the first quarter are expected to be in the range of 60-65 cents per share diluted. Adjusted earnings per share for the first quarter, which excludes stock option expense of approximately $4 - 5 million, are forecast to be in the range of 62-67 cents per share diluted.

The total of cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments was $1.25 billion as at March 4, 2006, compared to $1.6 billion at the end of the previous quarter, a decrease of $356 million over the prior quarter. This decrease reflects the additional funding in the quarter of approximately $414 million required to settle the patent litigation. "

Read entire release at Research In Motion - News

[composed and posted with BlogJet]