Lenovo Q2 net more than doubles, beats forecasts

TAIPEI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Lenovo, the world's No.4 PC brand, on Thursday blew past market expectations for quarterly profit on strong China sales, recording its first profit after three straight quarters of losses as technology spending rebounded.

Lenovo's results top off a string of better-than-expected results from peers such as Microsoft and Google, reaffirming a return in technology demand and raising hopes that consumer and corporate spending is picking up again.

"Lenovo expects the market environment (to) continue to pose challenges for the group during the second half of the fiscal year as commercial demand remains soft," the company said in a statement filed to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Lenovo, which is cutting jobs and consolidating its divisions, has been one of the main beneficiaries of China's move to encourage consumer spending.

China again provided the biggest chunk of Lenovo's revenue, accounting for 49 percent of total sales, slightly higher than the 48 percent reported in the previous quarter.

This comes even as rivals such as Dell, Acer and Asustek aim to expand in China and step up marketing efforts.

Lenovo reported a $53.08 billion net profit for July-September, beating market expectations for $24.5 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

It was also almost double the $23.4 million net profit reported for the same period a year earlier. Quarterly revenue fell about 5 percent to $4.1 billion, as corporate demand remained crippled.

Lenovo remains the biggest PC brand in China by market share, according to research firm IDC, taking a 28 percent share and ranking ahead of larger global rivals HP and Dell.