Technology giant IBM posted its seventh straight quarter of declining revenue on Tuesday as the company, known as Big Blue, announced an annual sales drop for the second straight year.
Fourth-quarter sales slid 5.5 per cent to $27.7 billion compared to a year earlier, while annual revenue dropped 5 per cent to $99.8 billion, the first time since 2010 that sales have been below $100 billion.
The gloomy sales picture was brightened by a 6-per-cent boost in fourth-quarter profit to $6.19 billion, largely due to a lower tax burden.
The company performed worst in the Asia Pacific region, where revenues decreased 16 per cent, compared to a 1-per-cent increase in Europe, Africa and the Middle East and a 3-per-cent drop in the Americas. Revenues in the major emerging-market BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – decreased 14 per cent.
IBM chief executive Ginni Rometty said that in light of the poor results she and other top executives would forego their annual incentive payments for the year.
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