IBM net up by 10 % to $ 2.86 billion in January-March quarter

NEW YORK: Tech giant IBM has reported a 10 per cent rise in net income to USD 2.86 billion in the January-March quarter of 2011 on account of robust growth in hardware and software business.

The entity had a net income of USD 2.6 billion in the year-ago period, IBM said in a statement.

The company's total revenues increased to USD 24.6 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, 2010 from USD 22.85 billion in the corresponding period last year. Thus, registering a growth of 7.7 per cent.

"We delivered a strong first quarter with revenue growth across hardware, software and services and with more than 40 countries growing in double digits.

"We continued to see excellent momentum in our growth initiatives -- smarter planet, cloud, business analytics, and growth markets -- which bring together the full value of the IBM portfolio," IBM Chairman President and CEO Samuel J Palmisano said.

The tech firm said that revenues from the software segment were USD 5.3 billion, an increase of 6 per cent, while revenues from the Systems and Technology unit or hardware business totalled went 19 per cent higher to USD 4 billion.

In the service sector, revenues climbed by six per cent to USD 9.9 billion.

IBM' earnings were also lifted by investments in emerging markets, and growth in areas like business analytics and cloud computing. During the quarter, the company's revenues in the growth market, which includes BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China surged by 18 per cent.

Revenues in the BRIC countries alone soared by 26 per cent, the statement said.

Revenues from Americas' operation were USD 10.3 billion, an increase of 9 per cent from the year-ago period, revenues from Europe, Middle East, Africa region stood at USD 7.8 billion, up 3 per cent and Asia-Pacific revenues surged 12 percent to USD 5.9 billion.

IBM raised its expectations for full-year 2011 earnings per share outlook to at least USD 12.73 from USD 12.56, it added.