IBM Q2 net income up 8% to $3.66 billion

Technology giant IBM has reported a 8.28% rise in net income to USD 3.66 billion for the April-June quarter of 2011, driven by the robust performance of all major product categories such as software, services and hardware.

In the second quarter of the year 2010, the company had registered a net income of USD 3.38 billion, IBM said in a statement.

The company's total revenues rose by 12% vis-a-vis the year-ago period to USD 26.7 billion in the second quarter of 2011.

"In the second quarter, our long-term strategic investments in the company's growth initiatives again helped drive strong revenue performance," IBM Chairman President and CEO Samuel J Palmisano said.

"Hardware, software and services revenue grew at double digits and we achieved strong profit and free cash flow growth," he added.

The tech firm's revenues from the services sector grew 10% in the second quarter of 2011, while revenues from the software segment rose by 17% to USD 6.2 billion and revenues from hardware operations went up by 17% to USD 4.7 billion.

The company's revenues from BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- increased by 27% vis-a-vis the year-ago period and accounted for 22% of total geographic revenue.

In addition, during the quarter, Asia-Pacific revenues climbed by 14% to USD 6.2 billion, Americas' revenues surged by 10% to USD 11.2 billion and revenues from Europe, the Middle East and Africa shot up by 16% to USD 8.6 billion.

Boosted by the strong performance, IBM raised its earnings guidance for the full year to at least USD 13.25 a share from the earlier estimate of USD 3.15 apiece.