Slowdown? What slowdown? Just as the market closed yesterday Dell Computer Corp yesterday turned in a strong first quarter profit of $82m, up 33% from $62m in the same period last year, on revenue of $1.64bn, up 44% on last year’s $1.14bn. Earnings per share were $0.84, versus $0.55 in the same period last year. It touts market research numbers which say it’s now the fifth largest PC vendor in the US based on unit shipments. Dell has $853m in cash and marketable securities even after spending $100 million to buy back 3.3m of its own shares. Growth was led by sales in Dell America, which increased 51% over the same period a year ago; US sales exceeded $1bn for the first time, apparently fueled by gains in corporate accounts, which were up 12% on last year. Non-American revenue now represents 35% of Dell’s business. Dell’s European sales grew 34% over the same period last year to $467m. The company says sales in France and Germany were particularly strong, increasing by more than 85% and 70%. Dell has opened direct sales operations in Korea and Taiwan, and the Asia-Pacific market, including Japan, did around $100m in the quarter. Gross margins in the quarter were up 1.4% at 19.5%, which are said to have offset an increase in operating expenses, which were 12.6% of sales versus 12.0% in the previous quarter. Inventory stands at 17 days. All of its product families are now Pentium- and Pentium Pro-based processors. 81% of sales were desktops/workstations, server sales accounted for 3% and portables 16%. Dell shares closed at $47.00 yesterday, up $1.50 on the day.
