Lenovo Rides Work-From-Home Demands to Post 512 Percent Q4 Profit Growth

China’s Lenovo Group on Thursday posted a better-than-expected rise of 512 percent in fourth-quarter profit, as more consumers working and studying from home powered demand for the world’s biggest maker of personal computers.

Profit for the quarter ended March 31 jumped to $260 million (roughly Rs. 1,890 crores), above an average estimate of $204.7 million (roughly Rs. 1,490 crores) from seven analysts, according to Refinitiv data.

Revenue rose 48 percent to $15.63 billion (roughly Rs. 1,13,470 crores) from $10.58 billion (roughly Rs. 76,780 crores) a year earlier. Analysts expected a revenue of $14.33 billion (roughly Rs.1,04,000 crores). Pandemic-fuelled buying of laptops, televisions, and personal gadgets have propped up sales of various electronic companies including rival Samsung Electronics.

Lenovo said in a statement its board recommended a final dividend of 24 Hong Kong cents per share for the year ended March 31. In 2020, it paid 21.5 cents (roughly Rs. 15) per share. According to research firm Gartner, worldwide shipments of personal computers rose nearly a third in the March quarter, following a weak 2020 base, the fastest year-over-year growth since Gartner began tracking the PC market two decades ago. Lenovo strengthened its lead in PCs with a quarter of share of the market, ahead of HP with 21.4 percent and Dell with 16.5 percent, Gartner said.
 

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