01/17 19:18
IBM 4th-Qtr Profit Falls 13%, Services Sales Decline (Update6)
By Paul Horvitz
quote.bloomberg.com
Armonk, New York, Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- International Business Machines Corp., the largest computer maker, said fourth- quarter profit fell 13 percent on lower-than-expected services revenue and declines in personal computer and chip sales.
Net income for the quarter ended Dec. 31 fell to $2.33 billion, or $1.33 a share, from $2.67 billion, or $1.48 a share, a year earlier, the company said. Analysts had expected $1.32 a share, according to a survey by Thomson Financial/First Call.
The shares fell as much as 4.9 percent on the news. IBM has gained from multiyear contracts to run computer networks for clients, and the company had signaled that it expected services growth in the fourth quarter. Services sales fell 1.4 percent from a year ago.
``Services were quite a bit weaker than most people were expecting,'' SoundView Technology Group analyst Gary Helmig said.
IBM shares fell as low as $114 in after-hours trading. They closed at $119.90 in regular trading before the earnings report. The shares rose 42 percent during 2001.
Sales at the Armonk, New York-based company fell 11 percent to $22.8 billion, from $25.6 billion a year earlier. That missed the average estimate of $23.8 billion by analysts polled by First Call. |
