Technology giant IBM is reporting increased revenues from its cloud and data analytics groups and is planning to shed more unprofitable business units after reporting first quarter revenues of US$19.6bn.
The company, one of the biggest tech companies in the world, nevertheless saw signs of encouragement in the first quarter as revenue would have been flat if not for currency adjustments. Adjusting for currency the first quarter revenues were down 12pc.
Sales from System Z mainframes more than doubled and revenue from strategic revenues was up 30pc.
Cloud revenues were up 75pc and cloud delivered as a service saw revenues rise to US$3.8bn from US$2.3bn.
The results beat Wall St analyst estimates and some US$2.3bn was returned to shareholders in dividends.
Business analytics revenue grew more than 20pc during the quarter.
“In the first quarter we had a strong start to the year,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer.
“Our strategic imperatives growth rate accelerated, demonstrating the power of our offerings in these new opportunities and contributing to improved revenue performance.
“Our focus on higher value through portfolio transformation and investment in key areas of the business drove continued margin expansion,” Rometty said.
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