IBM posts 'solid' Q4 results
Big Blue in strong cash position following EMEA restructure and sale of PC business
IBM is remaining bullish for 2006 despite reporting a 12 per cent decrease in total turnover for its fourth quarter 2005 results.
Turnover for Q4 stood at $24.4bn (which included revenue from its divested PC business) but excluding the PC revenue, total turnover actually increased by three per cent compared with Q4 2004. Profit for the quarter stood at $3.2bn compared to $2.8bn in 2004.
Global Services saw a one per cent fall in turnover to $12bn, and total signed services contracts hit $12bn during the quarter, bringing the backlog to $111bn, the same as a year ago. Software turnover grew three per cent to $4.6bn and hardware turnover was up nine per cent to $6.9bn.
Sam Palmisano, IBM chief executive, said in a statement: "IBM finished the year with another strong quarter. We had solid performance in systems, middleware and business transformation services, which grew over 25 percent for the year. Our cash position remains very strong, and we saw impressive growth in important parts of our business. We continued to make gains in emerging markets and in important sectors such as healthcare and transportation, and our microprocessors are powering the fast-growing home entertainment market."
Ian Wesley, research director at analyst firm Ovum said the quarter had been important for IBM.
"This was another vital quarter for IBM in Europe following the restructuring of the EMEA business. Overall, things have gone reasonably well with a rise in Q4 revenues year-on-year and cost savings continuing to come through to the bottom line. But whatever the organisation, things remain tough in Germany and Italy due to a challenging economic environment," he said.