In the week it was found guilty of false advertising by a New York court, Dell's first-quarter profit rose $28m (£14m) to $784m on revenue up nine per cent to $16bn (£8bn).

The results beat Wall St expectations but the firm is reported as saying it expects US public sector spending to slow in the coming quarter. The solid financial results are seen as a result of founder Michael Dell's return to the helm.

Early this week Dell was found guilty of abusive debt collection practices, misleading consumers about financing terms for which they had qualified and failing to provide consumers with promised rebates.

Dell now faces the prospect of a huge damages claim, and New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo has asked consumers to register their complaints at a special web site so that damages can be assessed.

"Huge companies such as Dell cannot continue to walk all over their customers and get away with it," said Cuomo.