Sales at IBM decline 3.3 per cent in Q2, profits hit by layoffs
IBM chairman and CEO Ginni Rometty needs the company to turn in much better quarters for the remainder of 2103 than Big Blue did in the first quarter, when it missed its numbers by more than $400m.
In the second quarter, IBM did a little better in its systems and services segments and the core business faired alright if you ignore the effect of a $1bn hit to cover layoffs of thousands of employees worldwide.
In the quarter ended in June, IBM's sales were down 3.3 per cent to $24.92bn, better than the 5.1 per cent drop in the first quarter. And although net income in Q2 was down 16.9 per cent to $3.23bn (including that $1bn hit,) even with the layoff charges IBM's net income was up 6.6 per cent sequentially from the first quarter, when Big Blue brought $3.03bn to the bottom line.
