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W First-quarter net income at IBM slid to 3.03 billion dollars, down from 3.07 billion dollars in the same quarter last year, IBM said Thursday.

First-quarter profit was 3 dollars a share, which missed the 3.05 dollars predicted by analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg news agency, marking the first shortfall in eight years.

Revenues were down 5 per cent to 23.4 billion dollars versus analysts' prediction of 24.6 billion dollars.

Chief financial officer Mark Loughridge said the poor performance of some businesses, such as certain storage products, would prompt the company to take "substantial actions," including job cuts in the current quarter, Bloomberg news service said.

Shares in IBM had been up 8.1 per cent this year and reached a record close of 215.80 dollars on March 14, according to Bloomberg. They fell as low as 195 dollars in extended trading after earnings were announced.