BlackBerry 3rd-quarter revenues top expectations

TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry Ltd reported a fiscal third-quarter loss as widely anticipated on Friday, but the company posted its first quarter-to-quarter revenue gain in over two years, indicating that turnaround efforts may be gaining traction.

In the quarter ended Nov. 28, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company reported a loss of $89 million, or 17 cents a share. That compared with a year ago loss of $148 million, or 28 cents a share.

Excluding a noncash credit tied to a change in the fair value of debentures, restructuring charges and other one-time items, the company posted a loss of $15 million, or 3 cents a share.

Quarterly revenue fell 31 percent to $548 million from a year earlier, but rose 12 percent from the prior quarter, after nine consecutive quarters of declines.

Analysts, on average, expected the company to post a loss of 14 cents a share on revenue of $489 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha and Alastair Sharp; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)