BlackBerry says costs to rework operations have quadrupled since last estimate

TORONTO – BlackBerry (TSX:BB) says the cost of reworking its operations will likely be four times as much as it estimated earlier this year and may turn out to be even be higher than that.

According to financial report documents filed with regulators, the smartphone maker expects to book US$400 million in charges from a variety of factors before the end of May 2014.

Those expenses will cover costs associated with the previously announced layoffs of 4,500 employees, the reworking of its smartphone lineup and other changes to its manufacturing, sales and marketing operations.

Earlier this year, BlackBerry said it expected to book $100 million in charges through its fiscal 2014 year, as it cut back staff and reduced other costs.

But since then the company’s financial results have weakened, mostly on poor sales of its BlackBerry Z10 touchscreen phones.

Last week, the company booked a US$965-million loss for the second quarter.