EMC Corp., the world's biggest maker of storage computers, reported its fourth-quarter profit and a full- year forecast that surpassed analysts' speculations as corporate technology spending witnessed a rebound.

The company said it had fourth quarter profit excluding items of 33 cents per share for the three months ended Dec. 31, exceeding analysts' average prediction of 30 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Sales were $4.1 billion, beating the $4.01 billion projected by analysts.

Fourth-quarter net income rose to $426 million, or 20 cents per share, from $270 million, or 13 cents, the previous year.

Combined income reported was $426.5 million, or 20 cents a share. The quarter includes $100 million in expenses to reorganize the company's international subsidiaries.

"There has been a rise in the customer spending as they seek to modernize their data centers after the economic downturn", Standard and Poor's analyst Jim Yin quoted in a note. Besides EMC's storage computers, the company has a majority stake in VMware Inc., which makes software that lets computers run multiple operating systems simultaneously.

EMC based in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, grabbed 18 cents, i. e., 1.1 percent to $16.94 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock rose 67 percent last year.