Blackberry posts surprise profit

BlackBerry has surprised Wall Street by posting profit for the first quarter.

The embattled smartphone company reported net income of $23m, or 4 US cents per share, for the three months ended May 31.

It had reported a loss of $84m, or 16 US cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding unusual items, its adjusted loss was 11 US cents per share in the latest period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected a loss of 35 US cents per share.

Revenue fell to $966m compared with $3.07bn a year ago. Analysts expected $961.7m.

It was the third quarterly results under new chief executive John Chen, who is de-emphasising the hardware business after last year’s launch of the BlackBerry 10 failed to spark a turnaround.