Lenovo reports £9.6m first-quarter loss

Chinese notebook manufacturer Lenovo reported a first-quarter net loss as revenue fell 18 percent because of weak enterprise spending.

The company reported a net loss of $16m (£9.6m) in the first quarter, on revenue of $3.5bn. Lenovo, which remains tethered to the commercial market, has been restructuring to cut costs. In addition, it remains a tale of two companies: although it leads in China, is extending PCs to the countryside and leveraging 3G mobile adoption, it has struggled in mature markets such as the US and Europe.

Lenovo chief executive Yang Yuanqing said the plan is to "continue to extend our leadership in China, strive to restore profitability in mature markets, and also seize opportunities in emerging markets and the transactional space".

As for its outlook, Lenovo said it expects enterprise spending to remain weak in the second quarter and it will continue to cut costs to restore profitability.

By the numbers:

• Sales in China in the first quarter were $1.7bn (£1bn), or 48 percent of the total. Lenovo has a 28.6 percent market share in China
• Mature market sales were $1.3bn (£776m), 38 percent of the total in the first quarter
• Emerging market sales were $474m (£283m). Lenovo said it is targeting Latin America, Russia and Turkey as key countries. The company added that it needs to become more of a consumer player in these markets
• Notebook computers are 64 percent of Lenovo’s sales.