Data storage maker EMC said yesterday it swung to a first-quarter profit as cost cutting and sales of new products outweighed a technology spending slump, pushing EMC shares up by 6 per cent at one stage. The company employs more than 1,000 staff in Ireland.

The company also said it expects a profit of three US cents a share for the second quarter, a cent above the average estimate of Wall Street analysts. Analysts said the forecast also boosted the shares.

Chief executive Mr Joseph Tucci said the first quarter was tough, capital spending remained tight and corporations were taking longer to make purchases.

"That's what's happening around the world now as the economy is tight. I think that's just what we are going to be facing for a while," Mr Tucci said in an interview with Reuters.

EMC said first-quarter results rose due to the introduction of products such as the new version of its most expensive storage system, an increase in storage services revenue and a lower cost structure.

EMC, based in Massachusetts, reported net income of $35 million (€32.2 million), for the first quarter, compared with a loss of $77 million, a year earlier.

Last week EMC forecast a profit of at least one cent per share.

EMC said treating stock options as expenses, a potential accounting change under review by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, would have led to a first-quarter loss of $58 million, compared with a loss of $176 million a year earlier.

First-quarter revenue totalled $1.38 billion, up 6 per cent from $1.3 billion a year earlier.