Lower costs lift Dell's profits

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Profits at the world's number two computer have soared 46%, helped by lower component costs.

The US giant's net profit rose to $733m (£364m) in the three months to 4 May from $502m at the same time last year while revenues rose 5% to $14.77bn.

Dell's strong second quarter profit growth lifted shares in technology firms around the world on Friday.

Dell recently said it was restating four years of accounts as figures were tweaked so to meet earnings targets.

Dell is definitely a beneficiary of quickly dropping component prices Analyst Kim Caughey

But Dell insisted that the restatement would only lead to a 1% decline in revenues.

The cost of this audit on Dell's second quarter figures was $59m.

Ongoing job cuts

Looking ahead to the second half of this year, Dell cautioned that the decline in the cost of parts such as disk drives and microprocessors - caused by oversupply in the industry - should slow.

The firm, which announced a 10% staff reduction in May, added it would continue to cut jobs as part of cost reducing efforts.

Its latest results were broadly welcomed by analysts.

"Dell is definitely a beneficiary of quickly dropping component prices," said Kim Caughey, vice president and senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital.

"They are also trying to set achievable targets for themselves."

Dell is the world's second largest computer maker behind market leader Hewlett-Packard.