IBM posts 12% growth, robust outlook

Beating street expectations, global software major International Business Machines on Wednesday posted a 12 per cent growth in income from operations at $4.4 billion for the fourth quarter in 2008.

The company had a four billion dollar income from operations in the December quarter of FY'08, IBM said in a statement.

However, the total revenue declined six per cent to $27 billion in the last quarter last year as against $28.9 billion in the year-ago period.

"In 2008, IBM performed well in an extremely difficult economic environment. Clearly our strategic transformation --migrating to the more profitable segments of the industry, investing in growth regions of the world, and driving productivity through global integration-- is continuing to pay dividends," IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer Samuel J Palmisano said.

Giving a strong guidance for 2009, Palmisano said that, "...with strong financial position, solid recurring revenue and profit streams and global reach, we are confident about 2009 and based on our 2008 performance, we are ahead of pace on our roadmap for $10 to $11 per share."

IBM said that it expects full-year 2009 earnings of at least $9.20 per share as against $8.93 per share in 2008.

For the full year ended December 2008, IBM's income from continuing operations rose to $12.3 billion, an increase of 18 per cent as compared with the year-ago period.

The firm had an income of $10.4 billion in the corresponding period a year ago. Further, revenues from continuing operations for 2008 totalled $103.6 billion as against $98.8 billion in 2007.