Lenovo reported a return to revenue growth in its fiscal fourth quarter to March, after five quarters of decline. Sales rose 4.9 percent to USD 9.6 billion, thanks to growth in the PC and mobile businesses. Operating profit was still down 70 percent to USD 74 million, and net profit dropped 41 percent to USD 104 million.
Lenovo maintained its dividend at HKD 20.5 cents per share, after a return to profit of USD 535 million in the full year versus a loss of USD 128 million in the prior year. The company said it was making progress with its new strategy despite challenging market conditions.
Lenovo's PC and Smart Devices division posted quarterly sales up 4.9 percent to USD 6.7 billion. Lenovo said it outperformed the market, with shipments up 1 percent to 14.4 million. Pretax profit for the division was still down 4.7 percent from a year ago to USD 288 million.
The mobile phone business, which includes Moto and Lenovo-branded smartphones, did better outside China, where the company is still waiting for improvement after a change of management and strategy. Total sales were up 14.6 percent, including 19.7 percent growth outside of China, to USD 1.7 billion. Quarterly smartphone shipments increased 17.4 percent to 11.3 million units outside China, the company said.
The pretax loss at the mobile business swelled to USD 220 million from USD 123 million a year ago. Lenovo said it targets a return to profit in the second half of this fiscal year after steady improvement each quarter of the past year. The average selling price was up 15 percent last year, supported by premium smartphones like the latest Moto Z, which Lenovo said is on track to sell 3 million units in its first year.
Management and strategy have also changed at the data centre division, where quarterly sales still fell 13.7 percent year-over-year, to USD 850 million. The division posted a pretax loss of USD 141 million versus a loss of USD 16 million a year ago.
