Lenovo returns to profit as PC market stabilises

HONG KONG: Chinese technology giant Lenovo on Thursday said its net profit for the fiscal year was back in the black, helped by stabilisation in its core personal computer market.

The Beijing-based company, which has traditionally manufactured computers but has been trying to broaden its smartphone business, said it had weathered "challenging global markets" as it executed a transformation plan.

The firm reported a net profit of $535 million for the year ending March 31 compared to the previous year's $128 million net loss.

But revenue for the group slipped 4 percent to $43.04 billion with PC shipments edging down.

It saw a year-on-year 1 percent fall in global PC shipments at 55.7 million units, against a 3 percent decline in the overall market.

Lenovo narrowly lost out to Hewlett Packard for the top position in global PCs in the past fiscal quarter, Bloomberg News reported.

"The group remains confident in its vision and strategy to drive long-term profitable growth," Lenovo said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing Thursday.

The firm added that its shift to its mobile business had also started to show signs of strengthening, with growth in shipments to Latin America, Western Europe and India, but saw a decline in revenue and shipments in China.

It has struggled to keep pace with Apple and Android rivals, with worldwide smartphone shipments falling 22 percent year-on-year dragged by performance in China, and its worldwide smartphone market share at 3.5 percent for the year.

Lenovo had announced plans to slash costs by $1.35 billion and cut 3,200 staff from its non-manufacturing workforce when it announced first-quarter results for 2015.

The company purchased smartphone manufacturer Motorola from Google in a deal valued at $2.91 billion and IBM's low-end server business in 2014 as part of a strategy to expand business beyond PCs.