Apple sees Q3 profits grow

Mac maker praises strong 'Apple ecosystem' as it records highest earnings per share (EPS) growth in seven quarters

International sales boosted Apple's third-quarter coffers, as the Cupertino-based vendor celebrated a record quarter and 20 per cent EPS growth.

Revenue for the quarter ended 30 June hit $37.4bn (£22bn), with profit growing 13 per cent to $7.7bn, compared with $35.3bn revenue and $6.9bn profit in the same quarter a year ago.

Gross margin stood at 39.4 per cent compared with 36.9 per cent in the same quarter a year ago, with international sales accounting for 59 per cent of the quarter's revenue, with a particularly strong performance in China according to some reports.

Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple, said: "Our record June-quarter revenue was fuelled by strong sales of iPhone and Mac and the continued growth of revenue from the Apple ecosystem, driving our highest EPS growth rate in seven quarters.

"We are incredibly excited about the upcoming releases of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, as well as other new products and services that we can't wait to introduce."

Luca Maestri, Apple's CFO, added: "We generated $10.3bn in cashflow from operations and returned over $8bn in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the June quarter.

"We have now taken action on over $74bn of our $130bn capital return programme, with six quarters remaining to its completion."

Looking ahead to end-of-year and Q4 results, the vendor predicted revenue between $37bn and $40bn, with growth margin hitting between 37 per cent and 38 per cent.