Lenovo Group has reported record full-year sales of $34-billion for the year ended 31 March, an increase of 15% year-over-year.
It also posted a record full-year pre-tax income of $801-million, up 38% year-over-year, and record earnings of $635-million, up 34%.
While Lenovo continued to close in on the number one position in PCs, with a record 15,5% market share for the full-year, it accelerated its transformation to become a top competitor in the PC Plus era, with a 5,9% share of smart connected devices and global number three ranking.
Lenovo had record revenues for the fourth quarter of $7,8-billion, 4% year-over-year growth. The company achieved pre-tax income of $166-million during the fourth fiscal quarter, a 63% increase over the same period last year. Compared to an overall industry decline of more than 13% year-over-year, Lenovo grew at a 14-point premium to the market, besting the industry for the 16th quarter in a row.
The company’s gross profit for the fourth fiscal quarter grew to $963-million, an increase of 20% year-over-year. Gross margin was 12,3%. Operating profit for the fourth quarter was $169-million, up 67% year-over-year, while earnings jumped 90% year-over-year to $127-million.
Basic earnings per share in the fourth fiscal quarter are 1,22 US cents, or 9,46 HK cents. Lenovo’s board of directors declared a final dividend of 1,81 US cents, or 14 HK cents per share for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2013.
For the 2012/13 fiscal year, Lenovo’s PC shipments grew 10,2% year-over-year, compared to an overall industry decline of 8,1% during this same period. Gross profit for the full year was $4,1-billion, an increase of 18% year-over-year. Gross margin was 12%, while operating profit for the full fiscal year was $800-million, a 37% jump over year-over-year. Lenovo’s earnings grew 34% year-over-year to $635-million.
“Despite a challenging macro-economic environment and ongoing PC industry transformation, Lenovo delivered a strong performance in the 2012/13 fiscal year. Not only were we the fastest growing among all major PC players, with record market share, revenue and profitability, more importantly, our smartphone and tablet businesses saw dramatic growth,” says Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo chairman and CEO.
“In fact, smartphone shipments were 3,7 times greater than last year globally and we are now number two in the China smartphone market.
“This has laid a solid foundation for the successful transformation of Lenovo into a PC Plus leader. Going forward, we will focus our investments on the fast-growing tablet, smartphone and enterprise hardware areas, while working to enhance the profitability of our core PC business. We are very confident in our ability to achieve success in these new areas, just as in the PC business.”
Lenovo in Europe, Middle East & Africa grew PC shipments during the fourth quarter by 11% and continued to strengthen its number two position in PCs across the region, with 11,8% market share, an increase of 3,2 share points year-over-year.
This is a 30-point premium to the market that saw a 19,5% decline in the region. The company had consolidated sales in the fourth quarter of $1,8-billion, a year-over-year improvement of 6%, good for 24% of Lenovo’s total worldwide sales. Operating profit margin was healthy at 2,3%, a 1,4 point increase year-over-year.