Lenovo Posts Upbeat Q3 Profit

reported a 4.5% drop in its fiscal third-quarter net profit. Lenovo's quarterly net profit shrank to $253 million, versus a year-ago profit of $265 million. Its earnings per share fell to $2.30 from $2.52. Its revenue climbed 31% to $14.1 billion. Analysts were expecting a profit of $200 million on revenue of $13.71 billion. The company's share of the PC market widened to 19.4% from 18.3%. Its gross profit rose 54% to US$2.1 billion, while gross margin came in at 14.9%. Operating profit dropped 3% to US$325 million. “This quarter, we are at the starting line of a new race, but the results show that we have the right strategy, we made the right acquisitions and we executed well globally, so I am confident we are ready to win,” said Yuanqing Yang, chairman and CEO of Lenovo. “Our core PC business maintained its leading position and further improved profitability.” Lenovo shares gained 1.64% to close at $26.06 yesterday.