29 May 2009

Dell profits down 63%

9:51 am on 29 May 2009

Latest quarterly profits at Dell declined by almost two-thirds as the worldwide recession continues to hit sales of computers.

The world's second-largest maker of personal computers made a net profit of $US290 million in the three months to 1 May - down 63% from $US784 million a year ago.

Revenues fell 23% to $12.3bn. However, the BBC reports the results were better than analysts had feared.

Dell said the global trading environment remained "challenging".

The results came a week after Hewlett-Packard said its latest quarterly profit declined 17%, and announced that it was cutting 2% of its workforce, or 6400 jobs.

Dell has already moved to cut costs, reducing its workforce by more than 9000 positions over the past year.