Stock watch

Dell European growth tops that of industry

Dell has turned in second quarter figures that show European growth three times greater than the computer industry as a whole. In the period ended 2 August, the direct PC vendor's net profit rose by 62 per cent to $346 million from $214 million last time. Turnover increased 54 per cent to $4.3 billion. The company's board of directors has also declared a two-for-one stock split, its sixth in as many years.

Netscape in profit

Netscape has posted a net profit of $88,000 in the three months ended 31 July, against losses of $44.7 million last year and a turnover of $150.2 million. Revenue from the browser vendor's enterprise software and services operation grew 16 per cent to $111.6 million, quarter on quarter, while revenue from the portal site Netcenter increased 24 per cent to $38.7 million.

HP reaps reward of cost cutting exercise

Hewlett Packard saw a one per cent growth in profit for its third quarter, as widespread cost cutting balanced the impact of the Asian crisis and a flat PC business.

For the quarter ended 31 July, net profit rose to $621 million compared with $617 million, with revenue up five per cent to $10.98 billion on the same period last year.

Nine-month profits dropped by three per cent to $2.2 billion, down from $2.3 billion last time, on turnover of $34.8 billion.

MicroAge profits down

US reseller MicroAge has reported third quarter net profits down 89 per cent at $700,000 on turnover that was up 24 per cent at $1.4 billion.

Net losses in the nine-month period were up at $9.9 million against profits of $18.2 million for the same time last year on revenue that increased 24.9 per cent to $3.9 billion.

ObjectShare makes net profit

Object Orientated networking specialist ObjectShare made a net profit of $29,000, compared with a loss of $2.5 million. Its revenue was down to $4.5 million, from last year's figure of $5.1 million. Gross margins increased to 72 per cent from 54 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

Profits jump for DA Consulting Group

DA Consulting Group has reported that for the six months ended 30 June, its revenue jumped 90.7 per cent to $34.3 million from its previous figure of $18 million. Net income was up to $1.6 million from $424,000 last year.

Novell makes good 1997 losses

Networking giant Novell reported third-quarter profits of $26.6 million compared with a loss of $121.6 million this time last year. Last year's figures included a $55 million charge related to redundancies and reducing inventory. Turnover in the quarter was $272 million, up from $90.1 million this time last year.