CALIFORNIA: Dell Inc. on Monday publicly disclosed quarterly financial results for the first time since late 2013, when the company reverted from public to private ownership.
The disclosure, which appeared in a regulatory filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission by Dell Holding Inc., owner of Dell, underlines a major question in Dell’s blockbuster $67 billion bid to acquire EMC Corp.: how the computer maker plans to pay off the massive debt it must take on to buy the storage company. The deal, announced in October, would create a corporate-computing giant by combining Dell’s PC and server sales, primarily to consumers and small to medium-size businesses, with EMC’s storage business, which focuses on large corporations.
Dell’s revenue declined by 6% year-over-year to $14 billion in its quarter ended in July. However, unlike competitors such as International Business Machines Corp. and the former Hewlett-Packard Co., which in November split into separate corporate-computing and PC-and-printer companies, Dell’s revenues were up in the company’s fiscal year ended January 2015, rising 5%.
“Dell has executed well. We’ve invested wisely to drive growth, and we’re pleased with our performance,” said David Frink, a company spokesman.
Dell has paid off $4.5 billion in debt over the past two years, but those payments left the company with less cash than it had when it traded publicly, and the move to private management hasn’t boosted profit. During Dell’s fiscal 2015, the company’s operating profit totaled $3.2 billion excluding charges. In 2013, that figure was $4 billion.
