HTC today announced its latest financial results. Unlike the previous quarter in which it recorded its first ever loss since going public in 2002, it was able to report a profit for its Q4 2013 financial quarter. Profits came in at NT$310 million (just under CA$11 million) on revenues of NT$42.9 billion (about CA$1.52 billion).
While the profit may appear at first glance to be good news for the beleaguered company, a closer look at the numbers reveals a different message. According to Reuters, HTC managed to eke out this profit because of a one-time pre-tax profit it recorded for the sale of its stake in Beats Electronics LLC for US$265 million in late 2013. This added about NT2.5 billion (CA$89 million) to its bottom line. Without this transaction, HTC would likely have recorded a second consecutive loss. There will be no such silver bullet next quarter though.
HTC is now actively implementing cost cutting measures that include buying cheaper chipsets and outsourcing production. It has also seen a number of executives leave and has made a number of changes to its executive team in recent months, including having CEO Peter Chou focus more on product development and appointing CFO Chialin Chang as head of global sales.
HTC is expected to announce the follow up to its HTC One flagship smartphone in the coming weeks. Known as the HTC M8, it could launch as the HTC One Two or the HTC One+.