Research In Motion reported a second-quarter loss of $235 million US on Thursday as revenue plunged compared with a year ago, however BlackBerry maker's results were not as bad as many investors expected.

The Waterloo, Ont.-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says the loss amounts to 45 cents per diluted share, compared with a profit of $329 million or 63 cents per share a year ago.

However excluding one-time costs, including cost cuts and job reductions, RIM posted an adjusted loss of $142 million or 27 cents per share.

Analysts had expected RIM to report a loss of about 47 cents per share, according to a poll from Bloomberg.

Revenue totalled $2.87 billion, down from $4.17 billion a year ago.

During the quarter, RIM said it shipped about 7.4 million BlackBerry smartphones and roughly 130,000 PlayBook tablets.

Subscribers rise by 2M

"Despite the significant changes we are implementing across the organization, our second quarter results demonstrate that RIM is progressing on its financial and operational commitments during this major transition," chief executive Thorsten Heins said in a statement.

"Make no mistake about it, we understand that we have much more work to do, but we are making the organizational changes to drive improvements across the company, our employees are committed and motivated, and BlackBerry 10 is on track to launch in the first calendar quarter of 2013."

Total of cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments stood at $2.3 billion at Sept. 1, up from $2.2 billion at the end of the previous quarter.

RIM said it had 80 million subscribers at the end of the quarter, an increase of about two million from the previous three months.

Some analysts have noted that even though RIM has added new customers, many of them have been in emerging markets where lower priced phones are the norm.

Cheaper phones don't add as much to the bottom line.

Shares soar after hours

Shares in RIM jumped 15 per cent to $7.14 US in after-hours trading in New York. The company's shares rose eight cents to close at $6.96 at the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday.

In its outlook, RIM said it expects there will be continued pressure on operating results for the remainder of its financial year.

RIM anticipates to report an operating loss in the third quarter as it works through the transition to its next generation of BlackBerry smartphones and completes its cost reduction plan.

The company has been pushing ahead with plans to launch its much-delayed BlackBerry 10 operating system and new smartphones early next year.

The new devices and operating system are seen as the key to the company's success after losing much of its market share to Apple's iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S3.

And while other companies debuted new devices, RIM was forced to push the launch of its BlackBerry 10 operating system and new phones into next year, missing the crucial back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons.

The company has also made significant reductions across its operations, closing facilities, severing ties with certain manufacturers and announcing plans to lay off 5,000 workers across its global operations in an effort to save $1 billion by the end of its fiscal year.