IBM yesterday reported first-quarter net earnings of $1.5 billion (€1.41 billion), a 50 per cent jump over the same period last year.

Earnings per share came to $1.55, easily beating Wall Street expectations of $1.41 Revenues rose 15.3 per cent to $20.317 billion. "We started 1999 with a strong quarter," said IBM chairman Louis Gerstner Jr. "We saw a significant improvement in our business in Asia, and we also had double-digit revenue growth in Europe and the Americas. "Our operating results were excellent, led by services and software, which together produced 60 per cent of our gross profits this quarter."