Big Blues for disappointed Palmisano

NEWS Sam Palmisano, IBM's CEO for less than two months, suffered his first major set back at the helm of the world's largest computer company when he was forced to announce "disappointing" first quarter results. Revenues fell from $21bn to $18bn - a decline of 12 per cent - while profits were down 32 per cent to $1.19bn. While these figures were in line with IBM's own forecasts, those forecasts had been lowered just last week. "Our first-quarter results, while disappointing, were largely the result of the continued weak global business environment," Palmisano said in a statement. "Customers in every part of the world deferred technology purchases in the first quarter, and these widespread deferrals hurt us across every one of our major business segments." Palmisano remained relatively upbeat about the coming nine months, however. "While no one can predict the timing of a recovery, we remain optimistic that business conditions will improve later this year. Our customers are telling us that information technology remains critical to the success of their businesses."