BEIJING (AP) -  Lenovo Group, the world's No. 3 maker of personal computers, said Thursday its profit in its fiscal first quarter plunged nearly 90 percent compared with the year-earlier period as it restructured after its purchase of IBM's PC business.

The company said that after restructuring charges, it earned US$5 million, or 6 cents per share, in the three months ending June 30. That compares with US$45.9 million in the same quarter last year, when it acquired the IBM PC unit for US$1.25 billion.

A customer tries a laptop at a Lenovo computer store in Beijing, May 2006. China's largest computer maker Lenovo Group has reported a sharp fall in profit for the first quarter as it struggles to recover from the loss-making PC business it bought from IBM. [AFP]

Lenovo faces intense competition from rivals Dell Inc. and Hewlett Packard Co. But president William J. Amelio said Lenovo was moving "swiftly and aggressively" to be a global competitor.

"This will not be easy and it will take time, but I am confident in our ability to execute our action plan to transform this company," Amelio said in a statement.

Lenovo said revenues for the latest quarter jumped 38 percent to US$3.5 billion compared with the year-earlier period.

The company said it took a US$19 million charge as part of a restructuring plan announced in March.

Lenovo said it benefited from strong growth in PC sales in China and India, holding its lead in the quarter as No. 1 supplier to the Chinese market, with sales rising 30 percent to US$1.3 billion. The company didn't give details on sales in India.

PC shipments to the Americas grew 6 percent to US$1 billion, the company said.

Lenovo chairman Yang Yuanqing said the company is focusing on emerging markets and other high-growth areas and is trying to expand its business outside China.

Lenovo signed a deal last month with IBM Global Technology Services for its software tools to be used on other makers' PCs.