There was good news and bad news from Motorola on Thursday. The good news was that the company posted its first profit in three consecutive quarters. The bad news was that profit was down 94 per cent year on year.

Moto recorded a net profit of $60m for the third quarter, down from a profit of $968m in the same period last year. Sales were also down from $10.6bn to $8.8bn, dragged down by the handsets division, which recorded a 36 per cent drop in revenues.

During the quarter, the Mobile Devices unit shifted 37.2 million handsets, including 900,000 RAZR 2 devices. The company also introduced the Moto U9 music device, yet another edition of the RAZR 2, seven W-Series handsets and the iC602 dual-mode iDEN/CDMA device. The company also introduced an ultra high speed WiMAX chipset.

The Home and Networks Mobility unit reported sales of $2.4bn, up 6 per cent compared with the same quarter last year.

“During the third quarter, we maintained our focus on increasing cash flow, enhancing profitability and driving growth,” said Tom Meredith, chief financial officer. “We are beginning to see improvements in our cash conversion cycle and operating cash flow which will lead to increased financial flexibility.”