INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP
8-K, 1997-04-24
COMPUTER & OFFICE EQUIPMENT
Previous: INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT, BW-3, 1997-04-24
Next: KIMBERLY CLARK CORP, 8-K, 1997-04-24



<PAGE>


                                UNITED STATES
                     SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                           WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549


                                  FORM 8-K




               CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15 (d)
                   OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934




                       Date of Report: April 23, 1997
                      (Date of earliest event reported)



                 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
           (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)




          New York               1-2360               13-0871985
  (State of Incorporation)     (Commission          (IRS employer
                               File Number)       Identification No.)



          ARMONK, NEW YORK                              10504
(Address of principal executive offices)              (Zip Code)



                                914-765-1900
                       (Registrant's telephone number)


<PAGE>

Item 5.  Other Events

     The registrant's press release dated April 23, 1997, regarding its
financial results for the period ended March 31, 1997, including
unaudited consolidated financial statements for the period ended
March 31, 1997, are attached.

                                SIGNATURE





     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned, hereunto duly authorized.





                          INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
                                             (Registrant)



Date:  April 23, 1997




                                 By:          John R. Joyce
                                     ______________________________
                                             (John R. Joyce)
                                      Vice President and Controller




<PAGE>

                                                              Exhibit 99


IBM Announces First-Quarter 1997 Results

April 23, 1997

IBM today announced first-quarter 1997 net earnings of
$1.2 billion, or $2.37 per common share.  This compares with
earnings of $1.2 billion, or $2.21 per common share, in the first
quarter of 1996, excluding a charge associated with acquisitions.
Including this charge, first-quarter 1996 earnings were
$774 million, or $1.41 per common share.  Revenues for the first
quarter of 1997 totaled $17.3 billion, a 5-percent increase
(9 percent at constant currency) over the same period of 1996.

Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., IBM chairman and chief executive officer,
said:  "We continued to see strong performance in the first
quarter in fast-growth areas including services, personal
computers and certain distributed software such as Lotus Notes
and Tivoli systems management products.  I'm also pleased by the
strength of our storage business.

"As we expected, our server business was adversely affected by
product transitions, most notably within our System/390 division,
and by ongoing weakness in Europe, which hurt our AS/400 sales.
However, the excellent results from the fast-growth areas of our
company more than offset the weakness from our server line.  This
underscores the strength of our broad, diversified product line.

"Even more important," Mr. Gerstner said, "was the increasingly
strong response we saw in the first quarter to our network
computing strategy.  IBM plays a unique role here by providing
customers with comprehensive solutions in areas such as
electronic commerce, data security, and network applications and
services for specific industries."

On an as-reported basis, first-quarter revenues in North America
were $7.9 billion, an increase of 14 percent from the same period
a year ago.  Asia-Pacific revenues increased by 3 percent to
$3.4 billion while revenues from Latin America were up 2 percent
to $701 million.  Revenues from Europe/Middle East/Africa
declined by 7 percent to $5.3 billion.  On a constant currency
basis, Asia-Pacific revenues grew by 14 percent and Europe/Middle
East/Africa revenues grew by 1 percent.

Hardware sales totaled $7.8 billion in the first quarter,
essentially flat compared with the same period last year.
Personal computer and PC server revenues increased, while
RS/6000, AS/400, and System/390 revenues declined.  Revenue from
the company's storage business increased, due in part to
continued strong sales of hard disk drive (HDD) products.

Services revenues climbed to $4.1 billion, a 28 percent increase
compared to the same quarter last year.  IBM signed services
agreements totaling approximately $3 billion in the first
quarter.


<PAGE>

Software revenues declined 3 percent from the first quarter of
last year to $2.9 billion.  Shipments of Tivoli systems
management distributed software more than doubled year over year.
The Lotus Notes installation base increased by approximately
1.7 million seats in the first quarter, bringing the total Notes
installation base to about 11 million seats.  Also during the
first quarter, IBM announced plans to acquire a majority interest
in NetObjects, a leader in the development of advanced web sites.
This transaction was finalized on April 16.

On a constant currency basis, hardware revenues grew 5 percent,
services revenues grew 34 percent and software revenues grew
2 percent.

Maintenance revenues declined 8 percent year over year to
$1.6 billion, while revenues from rentals and financing increased
4 percent to $899 million.

The total gross profit margin was 38.1 percent in the first
quarter compared to 40.9 percent in the first quarter of last
year.

Total expenses were essentially flat compared with the first
quarter of 1996.  The company's expense-to-revenue ratio improved
by 1.5 percentage points in the first quarter, compared with the
year-earlier period.

IBM's tax rate was 35.5 percent in the first quarter compared
with 39.0 percent a year ago.

IBM spent approximately $2.0 billion for share repurchases in the
first quarter, leaving about $800 million remaining under the
current repurchase authorization.  The average number of common
shares outstanding in the quarter was 501.7 million compared with
544.3 million in the year-earlier period.

The company's "core" debt (excluding customer financing) was
unchanged from year-end 1996 at $2.2 billion.  Debt supporting
IBM's global credit operations increased $817 million to
$21.4 billion from $20.6 billion at year-end 1996.

Financial results attached

<PAGE>


           INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
      SUPPLEMENTAL SCHEDULE - COMPARATIVE FINANCIAL RESULTS
              (EXCLUDES EFFECT OF PURCHASED R&D) *
    (Unaudited; Dollars in millions except per share amounts)


                              Three months ended March 31
                                                  Percent
                                1997      1996     Change
                              -------   -------   -------

REVENUE

 Hardware sales                $7,761    $7,708      0.7%
  Gross profit margin            32.4%     35.1%

 Services                       4,095     3,198     28.1%
  Gross profit margin            19.5%     19.4%

 Software                       2,950     3,037     -2.9%
  Gross profit margin            69.1%     70.0%

 Maintenance                    1,603     1,749     -8.3%
  Gross profit margin            46.8%     47.8%

 Rentals and financing            899       867      3.7%
  Gross profit margin            54.4%     55.6%


TOTAL REVENUE                  17,308    16,559      4.5%


GROSS PROFIT                    6,592     6,769     -2.6%
  Gross profit margin            38.1%     40.9%


OPERATING EXPENSES

 S,G&A                          3,684     3,697     -0.3%
  % of revenue                   21.3%     22.3%

 R,D&E                          1,069     1,091     -2.0%
  % of revenue                    6.2%      6.6%

OPERATING INCOME                1,839     1,981     -7.2%

Other income                      185       150     23.5%
Interest expense                  172       149     14.9%

EARNINGS BEFORE
INCOME TAXES                    1,852     1,982     -6.6%
  Pre-tax margin                 10.7%     12.0%

Provision for
income taxes                      657       773    -15.0%
  Effective tax rate             35.5%     39.0%

NET EARNINGS *                 $1,195    $1,209     -1.2%
  Net margin                      6.9%      7.3%

Preferred stock
dividends                           5         5

NET EARNINGS
APPLICABLE TO COMMON
SHAREHOLDERS                   $1,190    $1,204     -1.2%
                               ======    ======

NET EARNINGS PER
SHARE OF COMMON STOCK           $2.37     $2.21      7.2%
                               ======    ======

AVERAGE NUMBER
OF COMMON SHARES
OUTSTANDING (M's)               501.7     544.3

* Supplemental information provided for comparative purposes:
Net earnings for the first quarter of 1996 excludes a
$435 million non-recurring, non-tax deductible charge
for purchased in-process research and development in
connection with the Tivoli Systems Inc. and Object
Technology International Inc. acquisitions in March 1996.


<PAGE>


             INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
                    COMPARATIVE FINANCIAL RESULTS
      (Unaudited; Dollars in millions except per share amounts)


                              Three months ended March 31
                                                  Percent
                                1997      1996     Change
                              -------   -------   -------
REVENUE

 Hardware sales                $7,761    $7,708      0.7%
  Gross profit margin            32.4%     35.1%

 Services                       4,095     3,198     28.1%
  Gross profit margin            19.5%     19.4%

 Software                       2,950     3,037     -2.9%
  Gross profit margin            69.1%     70.0%

 Maintenance                    1,603     1,749     -8.3%
  Gross profit margin            46.8%     47.8%

 Rentals and financing            899       867      3.7%
  Gross profit margin            54.4%     55.6%


TOTAL REVENUE                  17,308    16,559      4.5%


GROSS PROFIT                    6,592     6,769     -2.6%
  Gross profit margin            38.1%     40.9%

OPERATING EXPENSES

 S,G&A                          3,684     3,697     -0.3%
  % of revenue                   21.3%     22.3%

 R,D&E                          1,069     1,526    -29.9%
  % of revenue                    6.2%      9.2%

OPERATING INCOME                1,839     1,546     18.8%

Other income                      185       150     23.5%
Interest expense                  172       149     14.9%

EARNINGS BEFORE
INCOME TAXES                    1,852     1,547     19.7%
  Pre-tax margin                 10.7%      9.3%

Provision for
income taxes                      657       773    -15.0%
  Effective tax rate             35.5%     50.0%

NET EARNINGS *                 $1,195      $774     54.2%
  Net margin                      6.9%      4.7%

Preferred stock
dividends                           5         5

NET EARNINGS
APPLICABLE TO COMMON
SHAREHOLDERS                   $1,190      $769     54.6%
                               ======    ======

NET EARNINGS PER
SHARE OF COMMON STOCK           $2.37     $1.41     68.1%
                               ======    ======

AVERAGE NUMBER
OF COMMON SHARES
OUTSTANDING (M's)               501.7     544.3

*  Net earnings for the first quarter of 1996 includes
a $435 million non-recurring, non-tax deductible charge
for purchased in-process research and development in
connection with the Tivoli Systems Inc. and Object
Technology International Inc. acquisitions in March 1996.
Net earnings excluding the charge were $1,209 million,
or $2.21 per common share.



<PAGE>
            INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
            CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

                  (Unaudited; Dollars in millions)


                                        At          At
                                  March 31 December 31   Percent
                                      1997        1996    Change
                                 --------- -----------   -------
ASSETS

 Cash, cash equivalents,
 and marketable securities          $6,463      $8,137    -20.6%

 Receivables - net, inventories,
 and prepaid expenses               30,857      32,558     -5.2%

 Plant, rental machines,
 and other property - net           17,062      17,407     -2.0%

 Investments and other assets       22,145      23,030     -3.8%
                                  --------    --------

TOTAL ASSETS                       $76,527     $81,132     -5.7%
                                  ========    ========


LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

 Short-term debt                   $13,243     $12,957      2.2%
 Long-term debt                     10,402       9,872      5.4%
                                  --------    --------
 Total debt                         23,645      22,829      3.6%

 Accounts payable, taxes,
 and accruals                       17,998      21,043    -14.5%

 Other liabilities and
 deferred income taxes              14,933      15,632     -4.5%
                                  --------    --------
 Total liabilities                  56,576      59,504     -4.9%

 Stockholders' equity               19,951      21,628     -7.8%
                                  --------    --------
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY               $76,527     $81,132     -5.7%
                                  ========    ========







© 2022 IncJournal is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission