TheChek News Flow

Reports FY14 EPS of $0.08 vs $0.08 CIQ estimate; revs increased 14% YoY to $38.7 bln vs $38.4 bln CIQ est.

GEOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW

• Lenovo China improved its fourth quarter operating margin by 0.8 points to 5.5%. With $3.1 billion in consolidated sales in the fourth fiscal quarter, China accounted for 33% of the Company's worldwide sales. Lenovo protected its PC leadership with 32.6% share, with PC margins improving 1.1 points with stabilizing shipments and increased average sales price. China continues to invest in the push into Smart Connected Devices to capture opportunities from 4G and Smart TVs.
  
• In the Asia Pacific region, Lenovo achieved 15.6% PC market share in the fourth fiscal quarter, up 2.1 points year-over-year. While the regional PC market improved, only down slightly at 1.5% year-over-year, the Company grew its PC shipments across the region by 14%. Lenovo remained number one in Japan with tremendous shipment growth of 35%. Consolidated sales across the region totaled $1.7 billion or 19% of Lenovo's worldwide sales, while operating margins went up 1.3 points to 2.7%.
  
• Lenovo in Europe, Middle East & Africa grew PC shipments during the fourth quarter by 33.3% and building even stronger momentum across the region. EMEA achieved a 15.8% market share, increasing shipments 4 share points year-over-year or a nearly 34 point premium to the market. The region had consolidated sales in the fourth quarter of $2.6 billion, a year-over-year improvement of 39%, good for 27% of Lenovo's total worldwide sales. Operating profit margin was healthy at 2.9%, 1.0 point increase year-over-year.
  
• Lenovo's PC shipments in the Americas in the fourth fiscal quarter increased 18% year-over-year, in a market that fell by about 8%. In this environment, the Company gained 2.5 share points to a record high market share of 11.4%. Consolidated sales grew 23% year-over-year to approximately $2 billion in the fourth quarter, driven by strong growth across all products. This represented 21% of Lenovo's total worldwide sales. In the US, during the fourth quarter, Lenovo surpassed Apple in PC units, while achieving the number 3 position for the first time in this critical market with record share at 10.8%. The Company continued to invest in its fast growing Brazil and Latin America businesses.