Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
Deep in the grip of a global recession, IBM has again surprised analysts with better than expected second quarter results, with net profit up 12 per cent to US$3.1 billion (A$3.85 billion).
In fact, Big Blue has revised an already bullish full-year earnings
per share forecast upwards to $9.70 – putting it well within reach of
the $10-$11 per share target for 2010, a figure largely scoffed at when
the company unveiled transformation plans as the recession took hold.
More remarkable is that IBM earnings per share for the quarter were
higher than any first, second or third quarter in the company’s history.
Still, the company has been squeezed like the rest of the world.
Revenue for the quarter of US$23.3 billion was down 13 per cent. But
the high margin businesses were up: Software revenues rose 24 per cent and its services
income was up 23 per cent.
“As a result of our strategic transformation, we have a very strong
business model that is delivering superior earnings, cash and client
value,” IBM chairman and chief executive Sam Palmisano.
“We have continued our strategic investments in Smarter Planet
solutions, business analytics and next generation data centers. We are
optimistic about how IBM is positioned to make the most of current
growth opportunities as well as those that emerge as the economy
recovers,” Mr Palmisano said.
While IBM has used large share buy-back schemes to boost earnings, the
company said it would not need to accelerate its re-purchases in order
to meet the new $9.70 target, and that the company would continue to
benefit from strong sales in software and services.
But while IBM is a bell-weather stock, its better-than-expected results
do not signal a return to the good times for the tech sector – or even
a return to spending among corporate buyers. Hardware sales for the
second quarter were down 26 per cent year on year – signalling
corporate buyers have yet to reach for their wallets.
One hightlight was in revenues from the company’s WebSphere family of
software, which help customers manage a variety of business processes
using open standards to interconnect applications, data and operating
systems, which increased 8 percent year over year.
David Bass
| For the fourth year in a row, IDC has placed content security provider Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) at the top of the IDC Worldwide Web Security 2011 –…
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