The company forecast stable margins and revenue for 2018, buoyed by growth in its newer businesses such as cloud computing and security services. IBM forecast a 2018 operating tax rate of 16 percent, plus or minus 2 percentage points, compared with a rate of 12 per cent in 2017. “Tax will be a headwind in 2018,” IBM veteran and new Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh said on a conference call. IBM swung to a loss of $1.05 billion from a year-ago profit of $4.50 billion, due to a $5.5 billion tax reform-related charge. IBM shares were down 3.4 per cent at $163.40 in extended trading.

Source: The Express Tribune January 19, 2018 11:15 UTC