Canada-based mobile phone technology company BlackBerry Ltd. said that it's aiming for $100 million of annualized net profit improvements, through a combination of cost reductions and margin expansion.
This is in addition to $50 million of annualized cost saving actions disclosed in prior quarter. The Intelligent security software firm also said it will cut additional jobs in its cybersecurity business.
The company continues to expect sequential improvements to operating cash flow usage in the current quarter and to be operating cash flow positive in the fourth quarter of the upcoming fiscal year 2025.
The company reiterated total company revenue outlook of $150 million - $159 million and for Cybersecurity ARR to stabilize sequentially in the current quarter. In the prior quarter, BlackBerry took actions that would reduce the annual cost run rate by about $50 million.
The actions were largely focused on the cybersecurity business and included about 200 headcount reductions.
During the current quarter, BlackBerry is taking further actions to streamline its cost structure. Within the cybersecurity business, additional headcount reductions are expected to generate annualized savings of about $27 million and non-headcount actions an incremental $8 million.
As part of savings, BlackBerry has exited 6 of its 36 global office locations, including San Ramon, California, which are expected to realize annualized savings of about $7 million. Other reductions in force are expected to realize annualized savings of about $13 million.
BlackBerry said it has made material progress towards establishing both the IoT and Cybersecurity business units as fully standalone divisions. The company has established a Project Management Office, and appointed leading management consultants, Alvarez & Marsal, to assist with the process.
According to the company, Divisional Chief Financial Officers, Chief People Officers and General Counsel for both the IoT and Cybersecurity businesses have been appointed and are in the process of establishing divisional back-office teams that will complement the already-standalone Sales, Marketing and R&D functions for each business.