The International Business Machines Corporation, better known as IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue", has announced on Monday that its fourth-quarter profits were up 24 percent compared to those recorded in the same period of 2006. The earning reported by the computer server and software maker beat the Wall Street estimations by a wide margin.

After IBM released the preliminary report, made public before its earnings report already set for Thursday, its shares went up almost 8 percent on premarket trading.

According to the company officials, one of the factors which helped IBM increase its sales was the weaker dollar, which contributed with 6 percent tot the growth. The multinational corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, aid its revenue grew 10 percent.

"The broad scope of IBM's global business — led by strong operational performance in Asia, Europe and emerging countries — drove these outstanding results," said Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM chairman, president and chief executive.

IBM said its earnings from continuing operations are $2.80 per share on revenue of $28.9 billion, while Wall Street's estimated profits of $2.60 per share on sales of $27.82 billion, according to a Thomson Financial poll.

The corporation’s annual earnings climbed 18 percent to $7.18 per share. This also includes a 5-cent gain on the sale of its printing systems division, on sales of $98.8 billion, representing 8 percent growth year-over-year. IMB beat the analysts’ predictions on this one to. The predictions for the full-year profit were of $6.97 per share on revenue of $97.73 billion.

IBM’s shares climbed $7.85 to $105.52 in premarket trading, while the company’s cash balance at the end of fiscal year 2007 was above $16 billion.

"IBM is well-positioned as we begin 2008 as a result of our global business reach, solid recurring revenue stream and strong financial position. We are on track to achieve our long-term earnings-per-share roadmap objective in 2010," IBM said in a press release Monday.

The multinational corporation will release more thorough info about its fourth-quarter and full-year results on Thursday.