Dell May-July profit up on strong sales

Dell said profits rose 29% during July quarter on strong sales of printers, servers and double-digit gains in overseas markets.

Technology bellwether Dell Inc said profits rose 29 per cent in the May-July quarter on strong sales of printers, servers and continued double-digit gains in overseas markets.

Dell, the world's largest personal computer maker, said on Thursday it earned $799 million, or 31 cents a share, compared with $621 million, or 24 cents a share a year earlier. It matched expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

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Revenue rose to $11.71 billion for the three months ended July 30, up from $9.78 billion a year ago.

For the first six months of its fiscal year, Round Rock, Texas-based Dell earned $1.53 billion, or 59 cents per share, on revenues of $23.24 billion.

Dell's earnings were in stark contrast to Hewlett-Packard Co, which posted disappointing earnings earlier in the day. The Palo Alto, California company's nine per cent jump in overall revenue was overshadowed by third-quarter earnings of $586 million, or 19 cents per share -- well short of the 31 cents per share on sales of $19 billion expected in a Thomson First Call survey of analysts.

Dell posted its earnings after the close of US markets. Dell shares fell 45 cents in regular trading on Thursday to close at 33.12 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. They gained 63 cents, or 1.9 per cent, in the extended session.