WirelessWeek - April 12, 2007

Research In Motion (RIM) reported a higher fourth-quarter profit than expected, announcing that the company has added about 1 million subscribers and that it foresees more growth for the upcoming quarter. The company said it earned $187.9 million, or 99 cents a share, in the first three months of 2007, which is up substantially from the same quarter last year, with a profit of $18.4 million, or 10 cents a share.

"We are entering fiscal 2008 with very healthy subscriber growth momentum, a strong slate of products and services, exceptional partnerships and a growing market leadership position," co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie said in a statement.

For the upcoming first quarter, RIM said it expects revenue of $1.025 billion to $1.075 billion and to add between 1.125 million and 1.15 million subscribers. RIM released the profitable findings after the markets had closed; shares in the BlackBerry maker's stock fell 6.9%.

RIM also admitted that the informal inquiry by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into past stock option grants has been upgraded to a formal investigation. So far, the company has been cooperative with the investigation.