1st Quarter Results

1st Quarter Results 

    ARMONK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15, 2003--

                IBM Reports 2003 First-Quarter Results

          Diluted Earnings Per Share and Profit Increased 8%

                            Revenues Up 11%

IBM today announced first-quarter 2003 diluted earnings per common
share of $.79 from continuing operations, an increase of 8 percent,
compared with diluted earnings per common share of $.73 in the first
quarter of 2002. First-quarter income from continuing operations was
$1.4 billion, also increased 8 percent, compared with $1.3 billion in
the first-quarter 2002. Revenues from continuing operations for the
first quarter were $20.1 billion, up 11 percent (4 percent at constant
currency) compared with the first quarter of 2002 revenues of $18.0
billion.

Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM chairman and chief executive officer, said:
'In the face of an ongoing difficult environment, we delivered another
strong quarter and continued to gain share across our strategic
businesses.

'Our results demonstrate that our e-business on demand strategy, which
draws on IBM's strengths in business transformation services and open
IT infrastructure, is responsive to the needs of our customers. It is
exactly this ability to help customers transform their business
operations with leadership technology that is at the heart of our on
demand strategy, and what sets us apart from our competition.

'IBM Global Services delivered another good quarter with more than $12
billion in signings, our second best performance in a first quarter.
Our software business continued to gain share in database and Web
application servers. IBM eServer xSeries delivered another strong
revenue performance, while our pSeries and iSeries servers also grew
revenues in the quarter. All three geographic units grew, and our
focus on small and medium business is paying off, as we continue to
see growing acceptance for our offerings in this important segment.

'Going forward, we are well positioned to set the agenda and help
customers transform their enterprises to realize the benefits,
efficiencies and productivity gains of e-business on demand.'

From continuing operations in the first quarter, the Americas revenues
were $8.6 billion, an increase of 5 percent (7 percent at constant
currency)from the 2002 period. Revenues from Europe/Middle East/Africa
were $6.3 billion, up 23 percent (3 percent at constant currency).
Asia-Pacific revenues grew 14 percent (5 percent at constant currency)
to $4.5 billion. OEM revenues decreased 15 percent (16 percent at
constant currency) to $690 million compared with the first quarter of
2002.

Revenues from Global Services, including maintenance, grew 24 percent
(15 percent at constant currency) in the first quarter to $10.2
billion aided by the addition of the former PwC Consulting. Global
Services revenues, excluding maintenance, increased 27 percent (17
percent at constant currency). Gross profit margin was 24.9 percent
compared with 26.0 percent in the prior-year period. IBM signed
services contracts totaling more than $12 billion and ended the
quarter with an estimated backlog of $113 billion.

Total hardware revenues from continuing operations were $5.8 billion,
a decline of 1 percent (6 percent at constant currency), compared with
the first quarter of 2002. Revenues from IBM's eServer xSeries
Intel-based products increased. Both IBM pSeries UNIX-based servers
and iSeries midrange servers grew revenue. The recently announced
p630, with Power4-plus technology, and iSeries servers with e-business
on demand capability contributed to the overall growth in revenue.
Revenues from zSeries mainframes were lower in the first quarter due
to a combination of customer deferrals of IT decisions and the
anticipated introduction of a new zSeries mainframe. However, total
deliveries of zSeries computing power as measured in MIPS (millions of
instructions per second) increased 3 percent compared with the first
quarter of 2002. This reflects a positive trend in a challenging
operating environment. Finally, revenues from disk storage grew
primarily as a result of increasing demand for high-end 'Shark'
products.

Hardware revenues from microelectronics decreased in the quarter
largely related to non-strategic businesses exited last year. Year
over year, revenues for the personal computer unit declined consistent
with industry trends. However, total hardware gross profit margin
improved to 26.6 percent compared with 24.5 percent in the first-
quarter 2002.

Software revenues increased 8 percent (2 percent at constant currency)
at $3.1 billion compared with the first quarter of 2002. Middleware
products, which include WebSphere and DB2 product families, increased
9 percent (3 percent at constant currency) in the first quarter of
2003.

WebSphere, IBM's family of e-business on demand middleware products,
grew 14 percent (8 percent at constant currency) from a year ago.
IBM's leading database management software, DB2, grew 22 percent (14
percent at constant currency). Revenues from Tivoli and Lotus
declined. Operating systems revenues grew compared with the year-ago
period. Overall software gross profit margin improved to 84.6 percent
compared with 81.1 percent in first-quarter 2002.

On February 21, IBM purchased Rational Software for approximately $2.1
billion. The post-acquisition results of operations of Rational are
included in the software segment results. Rational develops tools to
build, test and manage software projects and further complements the
company's middleware family of products.

Global Financing revenues decreased 10 percent (15 percent at constant
currency) in the first quarter of 2003 to $705 million. Revenues from
the Enterprise Investments/Other area, which includes
industry-specific IT solutions, were $254 million, an increase of 7
percent (down 2 percent at constant currency) compared to the first
quarter of 2002.

The company's overall gross profit margin from continuing operations
was 36.0 percent in the first quarter, compared to 36.1 percent in the
year-ago quarter.

In the first quarter, total expense and other income from continuing
operations of $5.3 billion increased 12 percent over the year-earlier
period, primarily related to the recent acquisitions of the former PwC
Consulting and Rational, partly offset by the benefits of the 2002
productivity and skills rebalancing actions. Selling, general and
administrative expense increased 5 percent in the quarter. Research,
development and engineering expense also increased 5 percent. Lower
intellectual property and custom development income had a negative
impact on results compared with the year-earlier period. Other
(income) and expense was negatively affected by foreign exchange
losses as well as the prior-year sale of the PC desktop manufacturing
operations to Sanmina-SCI.

IBM's effective tax rate from continuing operations in the first
quarter was 30.0 percent compared with 29.2 percent in the first
quarter of 2002.

For total operations, net income for the first-quarter 2003, including
discontinued operations, was $1.4 billion, or $.79 per diluted common
share, compared with $1.2 billion in net income, or $.68 per diluted
share, in the first quarter of 2002.

In the first quarter, IBM spent approximately $65 million on share
repurchases. There were 1.73 billion basic common shares outstanding
at March 31, 2003. The average number of diluted common shares
outstanding in the quarter was 1.76 billion compared with 1.75 billion
shares in the same period of 2002.

Debt, including Global Financing, totaled $25.8 billion, a decrease of
approximately $200 million from year-end 2002. Under a management
segment view, the non-global financing debt-to- capitalization ratio
was 7.3 percent at March 31, 2003, and Global Financing debt increased
approximately $300 million from year-end 2002 to a total of $24.1
billion, resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.8 to 1.

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements

Except for the historical information and discussions contained
herein, statements contained in this release may constitute 'forward-
looking statements' within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve a number of
risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially, as discussed in the company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

Presentation of Information in this Press Release

In an effort to provide investors with additional information
regarding the company's results as determined by generally accepted
accounting principles (GAAP), the company also discloses the following
non-GAAP information which management believes provides useful
information to investors:

-  Management refers to growth rates at constant currency so that
    the business results of a segment can be viewed without the
    impact of changing foreign currency exchange rates, thereby
    facilitating period-to-period comparisons of the company's
    businesses. Generally, when the dollar either strengthens or
    weakens against other currencies, the growth at constant
    currency rates will be higher or lower, respectively, than
    growth reported at actual exchange rates.

Conference Call and Webcast

IBM's regular quarterly earnings conference call is scheduled to begin
at 4:30 p.m. EDT, today. Investors may participate by viewing the
webcast at www.ibm.com/investor/1q03.

Financial Results Attached


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


                              Three Months Ended March 31,
                                                  Percent
                                 2003      2002    Change
                              -------   -------   -------
REVENUE

 Global Services              $10,169    $8,229     23.6%
  Gross profit margin            24.9%     26.0%

 Hardware                       5,808     5,884     -1.3%
  Gross profit margin            26.6%     24.5%

 Software                       3,129     2,897      8.0%
  Gross profit margin            84.6%     81.1%

 Global Financing                 705       783    -10.0%
  Gross profit margin            58.9%     56.6%

 Enterprise Investments/
 Other                            254       237      7.4%
  Gross profit margin            36.7%     56.2%


TOTAL REVENUE                  20,065    18,030     11.3%


GROSS PROFIT                    7,233     6,500     11.3%
  Gross profit margin            36.0%     36.1%


EXPENSE AND OTHER INCOME

 S,G&A                          4,215     4,023      4.8%
  Expense to revenue             21.0%     22.3%

 R,D&E                          1,195     1,135      5.3%
  Expense to revenue              6.0%      6.3%

 Intellectual property
  and custom development
  income                         (282)     (296)    -4.8%
 Other (income) and expense        84      (205)      nm
 Interest expense                  40        30     32.4%

TOTAL EXPENSE AND
OTHER INCOME                    5,252     4,687     12.1%
  Expense to revenue             26.2%     26.0%

INCOME FROM CONTINUING
OPERATIONS BEFORE
INCOME TAXES                    1,981     1,813      9.3%
  Pre-tax margin                  9.9%     10.1%

Provision for
income taxes                      594       529     12.3%
  Effective tax rate             30.0%     29.2%

INCOME FROM CONTINUING
OPERATIONS                     $1,387    $1,284      8.0%
  Net margin                      6.9%      7.1%

DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS
Loss from discontinued
operations                         (3)      (92)

NET INCOME                     $1,384    $1,192     16.1%
                               ======    ======

EARNINGS/(LOSS)PER SHARE
OF COMMON STOCK

 ASSUMING DILUTION
  CONTINUING
   OPERATIONS                   $0.79     $0.73      8.2%
  DISCONTINUED
   OPERATIONS                   (0.00)    (0.05)
                               ======    ======
  TOTAL                         $0.79     $0.68     16.2%
                               ======    ======
 BASIC
  CONTINUING
   OPERATIONS                   $0.80     $0.75      6.7%
  DISCONTINUED
   OPERATIONS                   (0.00)    (0.05)
                               ======    ======
  TOTAL                         $0.80     $0.69*    15.9%
                               ======    ======
AVERAGE NUMBER OF
COMMON SHARES OUT-
STANDING (M's)
  ASSUMING DILUTION           1,758.5   1,753.0
  BASIC                       1,725.3   1,718.4

nm - not meaningful

*  Does not total due to rounding.



               INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
              CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
                              (Unaudited)

                                         At           At
(Dollars in millions)              March 31, December 31,  Percent
                                       2003         2002    Change
                                   --------  -----------   -------
ASSETS

 Cash, cash equivalents,
 and marketable securities           $5,577       $5,975     -6.7%

 Receivables - net, inventories,
 prepaid expenses                    34,160       35,677     -4.3%

 Plant, rental machines,
 and other property - net            14,363       14,440     -0.5%

 Investments and other assets        41,620       40,392      3.0%
                                   --------     --------

TOTAL ASSETS                        $95,720      $96,484     -0.8%
                                   ========     ========


LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

 Short-term debt                     $5,767       $6,031     -4.4%
 Long-term debt                      20,036       19,986      0.3%
                                   --------     --------
 Total debt                          25,803       26,017     -0.8%

 Accounts payable, taxes,
 and accruals                        26,019       28,519     -8.8%

 Other liabilities                   19,325       19,166      0.8%
                                   --------     --------
TOTAL LIABILITIES                    71,147       73,702     -3.5%

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY                 24,573       22,782      7.9%
                                   --------     --------
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY                $95,720      $96,484     -0.8%
                                   ========     ========



             INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
                            SEGMENT DATA
                             (Unaudited)


                                    FIRST-QUARTER 2003
                         ---------------------------------------------
                                                      Pre-tax
                                                       Income
                                                       (Loss)
                                                         From
(Dollars in millions)   -------- Revenue --------- Continuing  Pre-tax
                        External Internal    Total Operations   Margin
                        -------- --------  ------- ----------  -------
SEGMENTS
Global Services         $10,169     $699   $10,868      $983      9.0%
     % change              23.6%     9.2%     22.5%     -8.4%
Systems Group             2,646      180     2,826       195      6.9%
     % change               6.5%     8.4%      6.6%     10.2%
Personal Systems Group    2,390       36     2,426       (69)    -2.8%
     % change              -4.8%   176.9%     -3.9%       nm
Technology Group            742      174       916       (11)    -1.2%
     % change             -20.2%   -26.3%    -21.4%     92.1%
Software                  3,129      387     3,516       639     18.2%
     % change               8.0%    70.5%     12.5%     14.1%
Global Financing            701      295       996       273     27.4%
     % change              -8.7%    58.6%      4.4%     23.0%
Enterprise Investments      241        1       242       (67)   -27.7%
     % change               4.3%     0.0%      4.3%    -26.4%

TOTAL SEGMENTS           20,018    1,772    21,790     1,943      8.9%
     % change              10.9%    20.6%     11.6%      2.0%

Eliminations / Other         47   (1,772)   (1,725)       38

TOTAL IBM               $20,065       $0   $20,065    $1,981      9.9%
     % change              11.3%              11.3%      9.3%


nm - not meaningful

                                    FIRST-QUARTER 2002
                        ----------------------------------------------
                                                      Pre-tax
                                                       Income
                                                       (Loss)
                                                         From
(Dollars in millions)   -------- Revenue --------- Continuing  Pre-tax
                        External Internal    Total Operations   Margin
                        -------- --------  ------- ----------  -------
SEGMENTS
Global Services          $8,229     $640    $8,869    $1,073     12.1%
Systems Group             2,484      166     2,650       177      6.7%
Personal Systems Group    2,511       13     2,524        65      2.6%
Technology Group            930      236     1,166      (139)   -11.9%
Software                  2,897      227     3,124       560     17.9%
Global Financing            768      186       954       222     23.3%
Enterprise Investments      231        1       232       (53)   -22.8%

TOTAL SEGMENTS           18,050    1,469    19,519     1,905      9.8%

Eliminations / Other        (20)  (1,469)   (1,489)      (92)

TOTAL IBM               $18,030       $0   $18,030    $1,813     10.1%

   Short Name: Intnl Bus. Mach
   Category Code: QRF
   Sequence Number: 00003937
   Time of Receipt (offset from UTC): 20030414T210702+0100