San Francisco, Apr 18 (IANS): Intel has reported that its profit in the most recent quarter fell nearly 13 percent, but the results still beat analysts' estimates.

In the company's 2012 first quarter ending March 31, Intel posted the net income of $2.74 billion, compared with $3.16 billion in the same period a year earlier, reported Xinhua.

Excluding certain items, the world's largest computer chip-maker earned 56 cents per share, down from 59 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Intel's revenue reached $12.91 billion in the quarter, slightly up 0.5 percent year-on-year.

Analysts had expected the company to earn 50 cents per share on revenue of $12.85 billion, according to a consensus survey by FactSet Research.

Sales in Intel's three major business groups including the PC client and data center all declined from that in the year-ago period and in the previous quarter, but the company sounded optimistic while releasing the latest results.

"The first quarter was a solid start to what's expected to be another growth year for Intel," Paul Otellini, Intel's chief executive officer, said in a statement Tuesday.