PalmOne saw its shares jump more than 20 per cent in after-hours trading last night after it beat expectations by posting a profit for the fourth quarter.

For the fourth quarter ended 28 May 2004 the handheld maker made a profit of $13.3m on sales of $267.3m, up 23 per cent from the same period last year. Turnover comfortably outstripped the consensus analyst forecast of $256m.

PalmOne shipped 1.1m Zire, Tungsten and Treo devices in the quarter and about 4.1m in the year - PalmOne has shipped 26.4m devices since launch.

PalmOne chief executive Todd Bradley expressed confidence for fiscal 2005, citing strong demand for its handhelds and smartphones.

PalmOne took on the new name in October 2003 when it acquired Handspring and span off PalmSource, the software side of the business. ®

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