LENOVO Group Ltd., the world’s largest maker of personal computers and fourth-biggest smartphone vendor, yesterday said that its fourth-quarter profit rose 25 percent as its desktop models and mobile devices gained global market share.

    Net income climbed to US$158.3 million in the three months ended March from US$126.9 million a year earlier, the Chinese company said.

    Lenovo is expanding into smartphones to offset a decline in its once-mainstay personal computers as consumers switch to mobile devices.

    Lenovo, which in January agreed to buy Motorola Mobility for US$2.9 billion, plans to triple the number of countries where it sells phones by adding 20 new markets in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

    The company, which became a global brand in 2005 after buying the PC unit of International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), also in January agreed to buy IBM’s low-end server unit for US$2.3 billion as another way to combat slow personal computer sales.

    Chief executive Yang Yuan- qing said the acquisitions would weigh on finances in the near term. But observers will now be watching to see whether a U.S. move to indict Chinese military officers for cyber espionage Monday will affect the acquisitions, as they are still subject to U.S. regulatory scrutiny.

    However, the acquisitions did not have an impact on net profit for the year through March, which rose 28.7 percent to US$817.2 million, Lenovo said in a statement yesterday.

    Revenue rose 14.3 percent to US$38.7 billion. Overall weakness in China was offset by growth outside Lenovo’s home market — particularly Europe, the Middle East and Africa and the Americas — as well as a surge in the company’s mobile Internet unit, home to its smartphone business.

    “Lenovo’s smartphone unit shipments achieved a record-high level of over 50 million for the fiscal year, growing by 72 percent year on year, driven by the strong growth in China and emerging markets outside of China,” the company said in the statement.

    Analysts see tough times ahead for Lenovo, saying it may take at least until the end of 2014 to make the acquisitions profitable.

    While worldwide personal computer shipments dropped 1.7 percent in the three months ended March, Lenovo expanded its market share as sales rose 11 percent, market researcher Gartner Inc. reported last month.(SD-Agencies)