In the first report card for corporate China's largest foreign expansion to date, computer maker Lenovo said Wednesday it had reversed losses in the IBM PC business it acquired, and that the company's net profit rose 6 percent in the April-June quarter, AP reported. Overall net profit, including the company's mobile phone and other businesses, for the quarter rose to 357 million Hong Kong dollars (US$45.8 million; euro37.1 million) from HK$337 million in the same quarter a year ago. Chief Executive Steve Ward said the IBM unit the company bought for US$1.75 billion in late April _ which made Lenovo the world's third-largest PC maker _ was now profitable. Before Lenovo purchased it, IBM Corp.'s personal computer business had lost money from 2001 through at least the first half of 2004. Lenovo's entire personal PC business also remained profitable, with global PC sales totaling HK$18.3 billion (US$2.35 billion; euro1.90 billion). Profit figures for its personal computer business were not immediately available. «Our results validate the expectations we have when we acquired the business and reinforced our convictions that we have a model for ongoing profitability,» Lenovo Chairman Yang Yuanqing said. --mor 1430 Local Time 1130 GMT
