Apple Computer Inc, which has its European headquarters in Cork, yesterday surprised Wall Street with a much-stronger-than-expected profit for the latest quarter, marking its third consecutive quarterly profit. Apple posted a profit of $101 million, or 65 cents per share on a diluted basis, for its third quarter against a loss of $56 million a year ago. Apple posted a profit in the latest quarter of $75 million, or 50 cents per share - well above Wall Street estimates of 33 cents a share.

Revenues fell to $1.4 billion from $1.7 billion. The latest quarter included a $26 million net gain from non-recurring items, Apple said. Gross profit margins were 25.7 per cent, up from 24.8 per cent in the quarter ended in March.

Apple's chief financial officer, Mr Fred Anderson, said that with nearly $2 billion in cash and short-term investments, "We believe we have the infrastructure in place to support our upcoming re-entry into the consumer market".