Apple profits fall for first time in a decade

Profits at Apple have fallen for the first time in a decade but the revival in its shares continued as the company announced the biggest share buyback by any business in history.

Chief executive Tim Cook aims to boost investor confidence by devoting $60bn (£39bn) of the company’s $137bn cash pile to a share repurchase progamme, and said he will also boost the dividend by 15pc to $3.05.

Apple profits fell 18pc/Margins dropped to 37.5pc, from 47pc a year ago.

Although analysts have predicted that Apple could launch both a cheaper iPhone for the emerging market and a larger one to compete with Samsung’s 5” S4 model,

Apple shares rose 5.5pc in extended trading, after closing up 1.9pc at $406.13, still far below September’s record high of $702.10.