IBM Reports Q4

ARMONK, N.Y. -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced fourth-quarter 2007 diluted earnings of $2.80 per share from continuing operations compared with diluted earnings of $2.26 per share in the fourth quarter of 2006, an increase of 24 percent as reported. Fourth-quarter income from continuing operations was $4.0 billion compared with $3.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006, an increase of 14 percent. Total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2007 of $28.9 billion increased 10 percent (4 percent, adjusting for currency) from the fourth quarter of 2006.

"IBM had a terrific fourth quarter and full year with record revenue, profit and cash. The broad scope of our global business --- led by strong operational performance in Asia, Europe and emerging countries --- as well as continued growth in services and software drove these outstanding results," said Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer. "As we begin 2008, IBM is well-positioned as a result of our global business reach, solid recurring revenue and profit streams, and strong financial position. We are on track to achieve our long-term earnings-per-share roadmap objective in 2010."

From a geographic perspective, the Americas' fourth-quarter revenues were $11.7 billion, an increase of 5 percent as reported (2 percent, adjusting for currency) from the 2006 period. Revenues from Europe/Middle East/Africa were $10.8 billion, up 16 percent (6 percent, adjusting for currency). Asia-Pacific revenues increased 15 percent (9 percent, adjusting for currency) to $5.5 billion. OEM revenues were $894 million, down 13 percent compared with the 2006 fourth quarter.

Total Global Services revenues grew 17 percent (10 percent, adjusting for currency) and pre-tax income increased 19 percent. Global Technology Services segment revenues increased 16 percent (10 percent, adjusting for currency) to $10.0 billion, with strong performance in all geographic regions and business sectors. Global Business Services segment revenues, marked by significant growth in core consulting and application management services, increased 17 percent (10 percent, adjusting for currency) to $4.9 billion. IBM signed services contracts totaling $15.4 billion, down 13 percent year over year versus a strong fourth-quarter 2006; short-term signings increased 8 percent. The full-year estimated services backlog, including Strategic Outsourcing, Business Transformation Outsourcing, Integrated Technology Services, Global Business Services and Maintenance, was $118 billion, an increase of $2 billion from the prior-year period.

Revenues from the Systems and Technology segment totaled $6.8 billion for the quarter, down 4 percent (8 percent, adjusting for currency). Revenues were flat excluding the year-to-year impact of the Printing Systems Division divestiture in June 2007. Pre-tax income increased 18 percent. Systems and Technology revenues from the System p UNIX server products increased 9 percent compared with the 2006 period and revenues from System x servers increased 6 percent. Revenues from System z server products decreased 15 percent versus the year-ago period. Total delivery of System z computing power, which is measured in MIPS (millions of instructions per second), decreased 4 percent. Revenues from System i servers increased 2 percent. Revenues from System Storage increased 11 percent and revenues from Microelectronics decreased 15 percent.Revenues from the Software segment were $6.3 billion, an increase of 12 percent (6 percent, adjusting for currency) compared with the fourth quarter of 2006; pre-tax income increased 21 percent. Revenues from IBM's middleware products, which primarily include WebSphere, Information Management, Tivoli, Lotus and Rational products, were $5.0 billion, up 13 percent versus the fourth quarter of 2006. Operating systems revenues of $664 million increased 3 percent compared with the prior-year quarter.

IBM Corp.