US computer giant IBM said last night that its net profit plunged in the last quarter of 2002.
Net profit tumbled to $1.02 billion or 59 cents a share in the three months to December 31, down 56.4% from €2.33 billion or $1.33 a share a year earlier. Sales rose 7% to $23.68 billion.
But IBM said its gross margin - gross profits divided by sales - was squeezed to 38.8% from 40.3% a year earlier. Losses from discontinued operations also mounted to $893 million from $232 million.
'In one of the most challenging years in business, we delivered a solid quarter and finished the year strong,' IBM's chairman and chief executive Samuel Palmisano said. 'We continued to gain share in our core businesses and managed our company very well in a tough environment.'
For the whole of 2002, IBM said net profit tumbled 53.6% to $7.71 billion. Revenue slipped 2.3% to $81.18 billion over the same period.
IBM said earnings from ongoing operations and before charges slipped to $1.34 a share from $1.46 a year earlier but this still topped analysts expectations.
