US personal computer giant Dell posted a 63-percent decline in quarterly net profit Thursday and said it will continue to keep a close eye on costs in a "still challenging" environment.

Dell said net profit fell to 290 million dollars, or 15 cents per share, in the first quarter of its fiscal year from 784 million dollars, or 38 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Wall Street analysts had forecast earnings of 23 cents per share.

Revenue declined 23 percent during the February-April period to 12.3 billion dollars, the Texas-based company said in a statement, slightly lower than the 12.7 billion dollars forecast by analysts.

"We're continuing to transform the company on the cost side and delivering strong cash flow," chairman and chief executive Michael Dell said.

"Re-establishing cost leadership and having flexibility to invest in our business will position us well as IT spending improves.

"Signals about the demand environment are mixed, but we're preparing for what we believe will be a powerful replacement cycle," he added.

Chief financial officer Brian Gladden said the company had "maintained solid operating margins and made further progress toward reducing annualized costs by four billion dollars by the end of fiscal 2011."

Dell did not provide an outlook for the current quarter but said "indicators of global IT demand remain mixed, and the broader environment is still challenging."

Dell last month closed a factory in Ireland and moved it to Poland.

The company's shares were trading slightly higher in after-hours electronic trading in New York, up 0.52 percent to 11.54 dollars.