Dell profit falls 31 percent amid attempt to go private

By Poornima Gupta

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc on Tuesday reported a 31 percent drop in profit, hurt by a shrinking consumer business, as investors weighed founder Michael Dell's offer to buy out the world's No.3 maker of personal computers.

Michael Dell, teaming up with private equity firm Silver Lake and software maker Microsoft , is offering $13.65 a share to buy out the company, but at least four of its largest investors are opposed to the $24.4 billion deal.

Dell posted net income of $530 million, or 30 cents a share, in its fiscal fourth quarter on revenue of $14.3 billion. That came in slightly higher than the average analyst estimate of revenue of $14.12 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Excluding certain items, it earned 40 cents a share, compared to an average forecast for 39 cents.

Dell gave no financial forecast for fiscal 2014 or the fiscal first quarter, citing the proposed merger agreement.

The company reiterated that it plans to file a proxy statement with the U.S. securities regulators on the merger agreement but made no other reference to the buyout in its earnings release.

Shares in the company edged 0.5 percent higher in after-hours trade to $13.87, from a close of $13.805 on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing by Dale Hudson)