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Research In Motion Reports Third Quarter Results

Dec. 21, 2005

Research In Motion Limited reported third quarter results for the three months ended November 26, 2005 (all figures in U.S. dollars and U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)).

Revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2006 was $560.6 million, up 53% from $365.9 million in the same quarter of last year. The revenue breakdown for the quarter was approximately 70% for handhelds, 19% for service, 7% for software licenses and 4% for other revenue. Revenue for the nine months ended November 26, 2005 was $1.5 billion, up 59% from $946 million in the same period last year. Total handheld devices shipped in the quarter were approximately 1.1 million, for a total of approximately 2.9 million handheld devices shipped so far this year.

RIM has updated its accounting for the NTP litigation following the district court's ruling on November 30, 2005 which found that the March 2005 settlement agreement between NTP and RIM was not binding. Although it is difficult to estimate any future settlement or costs associated with the litigation, we are maintaining the previously recorded $450 million as the best current estimate. The actual liability may be significantly higher or lower than this amount depending on further developments or resolution of this matter and will be accounted for at that time in accordance with GAAP. At the time of the March 2005 settlement agreement, RIM recorded $20 million of the $450 million litigation accrual as an acquired license on its balance sheet. The district court's ruling that the settlement was not binding led to the full writedown of this asset, which, after accumulated depreciation, had a net book value of $18.3 million. The total litigation accrual of $26.2 million, which also included an incremental charge of $7.9 million for NTP related legal and professional fees, was offset by a related tax recovery of $7.2 million.

"Although our litigation has certainly been pulled into the spotlight recently, we remain intensely focused on serving our customers and partners and maintaining our longstanding culture of innovation," said Jim Balsillie, Chairman and Co-CEO at RIM. "The third quarter was an important period for RIM as we continued to launch BlackBerry with new carrier partners around the world and readied an extraordinary lineup of new handsets, software and services that once again raised the competitive bar and entrenched RIM's technology leadership."

GAAP net income for the quarter was $120.1 million, or $0.61 per share diluted, as compared with net income of $90.4 million, or $0.46 per share diluted, in the same period last year. Adjusted EPS, excluding the intangible asset writedown related to the non-enforcement of the March 2005 settlement agreement, legal fees, and the related tax impact, was $0.71 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 to be comparable to similar metrics presented by other companies.

RIM added approximately 645,000 new subscriber accounts during the quarter and at the end of the quarter, the total BlackBerry subscriber account base was approximately 4.3 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.

RIM is maintaining revenue guidance in the range of $590-$620 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006, ending March 4, 2006. Subscriber additions in the fourth quarter are expected to be lower than previously forecast, in the range of 700,000-750,000. Earnings per share for the fourth quarter continue to be forecast in the range of 76-81 cents per share diluted. As a reminder, RIM's fiscal fourth quarter consists of 14 weeks, rather than the normal 13 weeks, due to the rolling 13 week quarterly cycle that RIM employs which necessitates a 14 week quarter every 5-6 years to realign the fiscal year end to the calendar year end.

Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2007, ending June 3, 2006, is currently expected to be in the range of $610-$650 million. GAAP earnings per share for the first quarter is expected to be in the range of 77-84 cents per share diluted. The stock option expense impact to Q1 earnings, of approximately 3 cents per share, is included in Q1 GAAP EPS guidance. Please note that going forward, beginning with the Q4 fiscal 2006 earnings report in April, RIM will be providing one quarter of forward guidance.

The total of cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments was $1.6 billion as at November 26, 2005, compared to $1.9 billion at the end of the previous quarter, a decrease of $293 million over the prior quarter. This reflects the $391 million used to repurchase 6.3 million shares during the quarter, offset in part by cash generated from operations.

 

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