Ding dong Dell, profit growing well

Dell saw profit jump 26 per cent for the third quarter, despite warning last month that earnings would be hit by chip price hikes. Pre-tax profits before exceptionals were $483 million for the period ended 29 October. The direct PC seller posted sales up a whopping 41 per cent at $6.78 billion. Profit included a $194 million acquisition charge for ConvergeNet Technologies, which it bought in September. Figures were inline with Dell's previously lowered forecast last month. At the time, the Texan manufacturer said rising chip prices -- due to the Taiwanese earthquake -- would cut profits for the period. Despite profit dropping to 7.1 per cent of sales for the quarter, from eight per cent for the same period last year, Dell still managed to shame its rivals in revenue growth. Sales increased at more than twice the industry rate in Europe and the Americas. Shipments in Asia Pacific and Japan rose at three times the market average. Internet sales accounted for 43 per cent of revenues by the end of the quarter, pulling in $35 million in sales per day, Dell said. Worked out on a yearly basis, that's a massive $12 billion in sales, ranking the company in the top 125 businesses in the US. Michael Dell, the company's chairman, said small businesses were increasing sales in the face of the millennium, and he expected this to offset any Y2K effect. ® Related Stories Dell buys storage firm Taiwan quake blamed for Dell profit slip