IBM Corp missed revenue expectations for the fourth consecutive quarter as the world’s biggest technology services company grappled with weakening demand for its servers and storage equipment, particularly in growth markets like China.
As a result of the disappointing results, Chief Executive Officer Ginni Rometty and her team will forego their annual incentive payments for 2013 as IBM’s total revenues fell 2% to $99.8bn for the year.
Total revenue for the quarter ended December 31 fell 5% to $27.7bn, missing analysts expectation of $28.25bn, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Hardware revenue plunged 26%, leading to a $750mn collapse in profit for that segment. IBM shares fell 3.5% to $181.68 in after-hours trade.
IBM’s results are certain to accelerate the company’s restructuring.
Emerging market sales dropped 6%, led by China, where IBM reported a 23% collapse in revenue.
Asia-Pacific revenue fell 16%, while that from Brazil, Russia, India and China fell 14% in the quarter.

United Technologies
United Technologies Corp, the world’s largest maker of elevators and air conditioners, reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit that topped estimates, helped by a delay in shipping a helicopter order.
The diversified manufacturer said it did not ship eight helicopters under a Canadian contract, as expected, which actually benefited its profit because they are sold at a loss, accounting for the profit topping estimates.
However, revenue was reduced by about $400mn because the helicopters were not delivered.
Total revenue at United Technologies, which also produces Pratt & Whitney jet engines and Black Hawk helicopters, rose 1.9% to $16.76bn, it said. That was about $330mn short of analysts’ expectations. Earnings from continuing operations soared 53% to $1.45bn, or $1.58 per share. On a net basis, income fell 29% to $1.46bn due to a big year-earlier gain from the sale of several industrial businesses.
 
Textron
Textron, the world’s largest maker of business jets, reported a 17% rise in quarterly profit as sales of its flagship Cessna aircraft picked up after five straight quarters of decline.
Business jet sales have been sluggish for the past two years, mainly due to US government budget cuts. But spending on such jets is expected to pick up in 2014 as business owners become more confident about the US economy.
Textron, which also makes Bell helicopters and EZ-Go golf carts, delivered 62 Citation business jets in the fourth quarter ended December 28, up from 53 a year earlier.
The company’s income from continuing operations rose to $171mn, or 60 cents per share, in the fourth quarter from $146mn, or 50 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 4% to $3.50bn.

Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue, hurt by disappointing sales of its generic medicines and the lingering impact of an overseas recall of its baby formulas last summer. The company’s shares fell 2.9% to $37.99 in early trading.
Abbott, which spun off its branded prescription drugs business early last year into a separate publicly traded company called AbbVie, reported fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $589mn, or 37 cents per share. That compared with a loss of $522mn, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier.

ASML
Dutch computer chip maker and global high-tech bellwether ASML posted a drop in profit for 2013, despite record sales in the fourth quarter.
Net profit for the year dipped to 1.01bn euros ($1.37bn), down 11.4% from 1.14bn euros in 2012.
ASML posted 5.24bn euros in turnover, up 10.8% from 4.73bn euros in 2012, with 1.84bn euros in net sales achieved in the fourth quarter alone.

Bankinter
Spanish lender Bankinter posted a 73% leap in 2013 profits, largely driven by lower losses on soured property assets, though its net income from lending also grew the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier.
Investors are looking for signs that Spanish banks are mending after a real estate crash that wiped out 2012 earnings when they were forced to book write-downs.