US reseller Insight Enterprises said yesterday that profit dropped by 46 per cent in the third quarter.

The giant computer distie saw earnings fall to $9.1m, or 18 cents per share, from $17.2m, or 35 cents per share in the same period a year ago.

Revenue was up 29 per cent to $1.11bn for the three months ended 30 September 2007 from $857.9m, due in large part to an 18 per cent rise in the North American segment which generated nearly $818m in sales.

Insight blamed the profit fall on the hike in salaries and wages related to the acquisition of Software Spectrum – a Level 3 Communications firm that was bought by the reseller in July 2006.

Selling and admin expenses at the firm were up to $130.8m from $88.2m for the same year ago period.

Insight CEO Rich Fennessy said: "Even with more of a seasonal decline in our software business than we had expected, I believe we had a solid quarter.

"Year-to-date, our results are very strong and we feel good about our business across all segments and categories, including software, going into the fourth quarter."

The full results can be seen here. ®