Shares in EMC, the world’s biggest maker of storage computers, fell yesterday after it forecast full-year profit that did not meet expectations and VMware, the software maker it mostly owns, said it was facing a tough first half of the year.

EMC – it employs 3,000 people in Ireland – reported global fourth-quarter revenue growth of 8 per cent over the same period in 2011, but tumbled 6.6 per cent to $23.53 in New York.

EMC forecast 2013 earnings of $1.85 a share excluding restructuring charges and the amortisation of VMware’s software from prior periods. Analysts had estimated $1.90.

VMware fell 19 per cent to $79.32, after declining 22 per cent for the biggest drop since July 2008. It yesterday projected sales that missed estimates and said it would cut 900 jobs. –(Bloomberg)