SAN FRANCISCO : Apple announced on Monday that its fourth quarter profits leapt 67 percent as customers snatched up iPhones, iPods and Macintosh computers.

The Northern California company reported profit of US$904 million, or US$1.01 per share, in the quarter ending September 29 as compared to US$542 million, or 62 cents per share, in the same period last year.

Revenues for the quarter were US$6.22 billion in contrast to US$4.84 billion in its fourth quarter in 2006.

Apple ended its fiscal year with more than US$24 billion in revenue and US$3.5 billion in profit, according to chief executive Steve Jobs.

"We are very pleased," Jobs said of the results. "We're looking forward to a strong December quarter."

Apple said it shipped 2,164,000 Macintosh computers during its fourth quarter, which set a new record for the company and marked a 34 percent increase from the same period the previous year.

IPod sales climbed 17 percent in the quarter to 10,200,000 while iPhone rang in as a US mobile telephone contender by selling 1,119,000 units, according to Apple.

Apple reported selling 1,389,000 iPhones since they debuted in US stores in late June.

IPhones have become the top selling handset on record for telecom giant AT&T, which has the exclusive service contract for the devices in the United States.

Apple finished its fiscal year with US$15.4 billion in cash in its coffers and no debt, according to the company's chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer forecast revenues of US$9.2 billion and earnings per share of US$1.42 in the first fiscal quarter of 2008, which will include the Christmas shopping season. - AFP/ch