IBM posted a quarterly net profit overnight that beat Wall Street's recently raised target as solid year-end product sales were buoyed by a weaker US dollar.
Shares rose slightly as IBM posted broad-based sales gains across all its major product lines, regional markets and target customer segments.
But more than half of the growth was due to favorable currency effects instead of operating performance. "We continue to see the global economy moving from economic recovery to moderate expansion, and we expect the IT market we serve to grow about 4 to 6 per cent," CFO Mr Mark Loughridge said in a conference call.
IBM reported net income of $3.1 billon, or $1.81 a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $2.71 billion, or $1.56 a share, a year earlier.
For the 2004 year, IBM reported revenue of $96.5 billion.