The Globe Is Ibm's Classroom

摘要

In late February, IBM announced a breakthrough deal with Denmark's largest utility, DONG Energy, to help pave the way for wide acceptance of electric cars among Danes. Inrnhappier days that might have caused a ripple of excitement among IBM investors. This time the news was met with a shrug. That says alot about IBM's short-term prospects. Big Blue is hugely ambitious: Its latest focus is on providing technology and expertise to improve the effectiveness ofrneverything from electrical grids to urban transportation hubs. Long term, that could lead to big gains. But in today's environment, major funding of such projects doesn't seem likely. For now the company's financial strength will come from what it is already doing well. In the fourth quarter, net income grew 12%, to $4.4 billion, even while revenues slipped 6%, to $27 billion. Through a combination of strategic acquisitions and internal product development, IBM's software business, with pretax margins of 32%, grew at 3% in spite of the economic slowdown. Meanwhile, efficient use of offshore labor and automation of tasks with software have helped improve profit margins in the global- services unit from 8.7% in 2004 to 12.4% last year.