Device manufacturer Apple continued with an impressive financial performance for the quarter to end-March, generating revenue of $45.6bn for the period, as well as net profit of $10.2bn.
The firm’s revenue for the quarter is a 4.6 per cent year on year improvement on the $43.6bn generated in the same period a year earlier, while the quarterly net profit marks a 7.4 per cent increase on the $9.5bn recorded in 2Q13.
Gross margin also grew year on year for the quarter, from 37.5 per cent to 39.3 per cent and the firm added that international sales accounted for 66 per cent of its revenue during the quarter.
“We’re very proud of our quarterly results, especially our strong iPhone sales and record revenue from services,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re eagerly looking forward to introducing more new products and services that only Apple could bring to market.”
Chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer, who will retire at the end of September, added that Apple generated $13.5bn in cash flow from operations and returned almost $21bn in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the quarter.
“That brings cumulative payments under our capital return program to $66 billion,” he added.
Apple added that in its third quarter, it expects to generate revenue between $36bn and $38bn and incur operating expenses between $4.4bn and $4.5bn.
In January, the firm worried investors by posting flat profit for 1Q14, which ended December 31st 2013. This was despite posting record quarterly revenue of $57.6bn.