Lenovo Group has reported group revenue of $62 billion and net income of $1.6 billion, or $1.9 billion on a non-Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards (HKFRS) basis.
Profitability was stable with gross margin and operating margin both delivering 18-year highs and non-HKFRS net margin flat year-to-year.
While group revenue was impacted due to the softness in the device market, revenue from non-PC businesses reached a fiscal year high of nearly 40%, fueled by Lenovo’s diversified growth engines of Solutions and Services Group (SSG) and Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) growing revenue to record highs of $6.7 billion and $9.8 billion respectively, up 22% and 37% year-on-year.
After a year of industry and global uncertainties, Lenovo sees positive signs of the market stabilizing. The group expects the entire PC and smart devices market to resume year-to-year growth in the second half of 2023, and for the IT services market to resume relatively high growth – together these will drive the total IT market in 2023 back to moderate growth. In the mid-to-long term, digital and intelligent transformation will continue to accelerate, leading to a big growth potential for cloud and computing infrastructure.
Lenovo’s cash position remains strong, and its cash conversion cycle has further improved. This healthy liquidity has seen the Group continue to invest in R&D around ‘New IT’ (client, edge, cloud, network, and intelligence) to build its future core competencies. During the last year, Lenovo increased its full year investment in R&D to $2.2 billion, up 6% year-to-year.
In Q4, the Group recognized a one-time restructuring and other charges of US$249M, among various other actions, to deliver around US$850M of annual run-rate group expense savings, helping to establish a solid foundation for the Group’s operations in a challenging market, and position it for future growth.
Lenovo’s Board of Directors declared a final dividend of 3.8 US cents or 30.0 HK cents per share for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023.
Chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang comments: “Lenovo has delivered stable profitability in the last fiscal year as our diversified growth engines continue to hit new milestones. Their momentum is driving steady progress in our services-led transformation, and our non-PC businesses’ revenue mix increased to nearly 40%.
“Our clear strategy is working, and our operation is resilient, even in the face of global uncertainties. Going forward, we will continue to invest in R&D to capture the next wave of growth opportunities, so we are well prepared for the future.”