19 January 2005 – Armonk (NY): IBM has reported Q4 net income up 12 per cent to $3.04 billion, fuelled by the weak dollar and robust sales in its services and software businesses.
The tech giant, which reported growth across all its major business units, posted sales of $27.7 billion, up 7 per cent from $25.9 billion in the year ago quarter, although sales climbed just 3 per cent when currency gains are excluded.
In a conference call, CFO Mark Loughridge said that the economy improved in 2004 from recovery to a period of "moderate expansion", from which IBM gained.
He added that IBM aims to boost earnings by slightly more than 10 per cent each year, while revenue growth is likely to be in the "mid-to-high single digits".
