ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 24, 1997 TAG: 9704240062
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
IBM's limp profits blamed on dollar's strength overseas
NEW YORK - International Business Machines Corp. on Wednesday reported flat first-quarter profits, beating analysts' forecasts amid strong demand for IBM computer services, personal computers and software.
IBM said it earned $1.2 billion, or $2.37 per common share, compared with $1.2 billion, or $2.21 per share, in the first quarter of 1996, excluding a charge associated with acquisitions. Revenues rose 4.5 percent.
The profits exceeded expectations of most analysts, who had expected them to be eroded by the dollar's sharp rise against European currencies and the Japanese yen this year.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bright forecast for world economy
WASHINGTON - The outlook for the world's economy is bright, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday, but a significant decline in stock market prices could undermine confidence in some countries.
In its biannual report, the lending institution praised the United States for continuing to lead world growth but said the Federal Reserve may again need to raise interest rates, as did March 25, to keep the economy on track.
The report said that record unemployment rates in some European countries were worrying, and that Japan needed to do more to bolster its weak recovery. While ``globalization'' of trade had caused some economic problems, it was contributing to world prosperity, it said.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
Briefly ...
United Auto Workers members walked off their jobs at a General Motors' plant near Detroit just before midnight Tuesday, bringing to three the number of strikes that threaten supplies of some of the most popular GM and Chrysler Corp. models. The plant assembles Chevrolet and GMC full-size pickups with extended cabs, one of the company's biggest money-makers.
American Suzuki Motor Corp. says it has evidence that Consumers Reports magazine faked a 1988 rollover test that killed sales of the Samurai and cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars. James Fitzpatrick, an attorney for the magazine, dismissed the assertions aired Tuesday at a news conference as ``having no basis in fact.''
ETS International Inc. of Roanoke will conduct a two-week class in air-pollution control technology in Florianopolis, Brazil. The company received a contract for the class from the Institute for International Education, sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development. ETS personnel will train about 30 engineers, scientists and managers from Brazilian industries and government agencies. The focus of the program will be the electric power industry.
Branch & Associates Inc., a Roanoke general contractor, has been awarded a construction pact valued at $12,977,075 for two new dormitories on the Virginia Tech campus. The four-story buildings will provide housing for 440 students. Completion is scheduled for July 1998.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB