Palm-top computer group Psion yesterday blamed a drop in sales and rising losses at its hi-tech mobile phone joint venture for a slide in first half profits.

Chief executive Mr David Levin said sales of palm-top computers fell 34 per cent as customers put off spending on portable computers until the latest model, Series 5mx, went on sale at the end of June.

The group also spent £2.8 million sterling (€4.35 million) investing in Symbian, the joint venture it has with Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola and Matsushita which will market the new industry standard software for the next generation of mobile phones and computers.

Psion's profits before tax fell to £57,000 sterling in the six months to June 30th, down from £4.3 million at the same time last year.

However, stripping out its share of the losses from the Symbian joint venture and exceptional charges, the pre-tax profit was £2.4 million.