IBM said last night its profit fell sharply for the fourth quarter in a row, as corporations, worried about their own stagnant bottom lines, spent less on technology.

IBM, which sells everything from computer software to microchips to computer services, said it earned three cents per share in the second quarter, down from $1.15 per share a year earlier. It had made provisions to cover job cuts, a reorganisation of its microelectronics division and for its money-losing hard-disk drive business.

The New York-based company, which employs more than 5,000 in the Republic and whose results are a bellwether for the influential tech industry, set out plans to sell most of its hard-disk drive assets to Hitachi for $2.05 billion at the start of June.

- (Reuters)