INTEL Corporation, which has its European headquarters in Leixlip, Co Kildare, has reported strong growth in the first quarter of the year.
The group announced last night that first quarter revenue was $6.4 billion (£4.1 billion), up 39 per cent from the first quarter of last year, while after tax profits of $2 billion were up from $894 million for the comparable period in 1996. Growth was based on the sales of the pentium processor with MMX and the pentium pro processor.
Earnings per share more than doubled to $2.20. Analysts had expected earnings of around $2.07.
The results compared with revenue of $6.4 billion and after tax profits of $1.9 billion in the final quarter of 1996.
Dr Andrew Grove, president, and chief executive officer said that 1997 would be a year of major transition, with the pentium processor with MMX technology launched already and the pentium II processor to be launched next month. "Our challenge, as always, will be to adds manufacturing capacity of enough to supply all market segments," he said in a statement.
