For whom the Dell tolls: Massive 72% quarterly profit collapse

Embattled tech giant Dell has reported a massive 72% year-on-year collapse in second quarter earnings, as a consortium led by founder Michael Dell and prominent investor Carl Icahn battle for control of the company.

The company has reported net income for the quarter collapsed by 72%, from $US732 million to just $US272 million.

The drop led to a 71% fall in earnings per share, down from US42 cents to just US12 cents per share.

The drop was led by a massive 71% year-on-year drop in operating income at its End User Computing segment, which sells desktops computers, tablets and other consumer devices, to $US205 million.

The company’s Enterprise Solutions Group reported a 9% decrease in operating income to $US137 million, despite an 8% increase in revenue to $US3.3 billion.

Dell Software reported an operating loss despite revenues for the quarter of $US301 million.

A rare highlight in the figures was Dell Services, with total operating income up 1% to $US339 million and revenue up 2% to $US2.1 billion.

“In a challenging environment, we remain committed to our strategy and our customers, and we’re encouraged by increasing customer interest in our end-to-end solutions offerings and continued growth in our Enterprise Solutions, Services and Software businesses,” Dell chief financial officer Brian Gladden says.

As SmartCompany recently reported, according to figures compiled by Gartner, Dell’s sales dropped 3.9% from 9.34 million to 8.98 million during the second quarter.

The figures also show the overall PC market slumped to 76 million units worldwide during the second quarter of 2013, 10.9% down from 85.3 million year-on-year.

The figures represented the fifth consecutive quarter of year-on-year declines in the troubled sector, coming on top of the 13.9% year-on-year decline shown in IDC’s first quarter figures.

Dell is currently subject to a battle for control between a consortium of private equity firm Silver Lake Capital, founder Michael Dell and Microsoft, who are seeking to take the struggling computer maker private, against a rival bid led by prominent investor Carl Icahn.