Apple profit falls for first time in a decade

Apple Inc plans to double the amount of capital it returns to shareholders, partly by raising debt, bowing to investors' demands that it share more of its record US$145 billion cash pile.

Shares of the company, which were halted before the release of its earnings results, jumped 5.6 percent to US$428.70 in after-hours trade.

Apple also posted on Tuesday fiscal second-quarter revenue that beat Wall Street's expectations as iPhone and iPad sales surpassed investors' lowered expectations.

But profit declined for the first time in a decade. Apple earned $9.5 billion or US$10.09 a share in the quarter, down from US$11.6 billion or US$12.30, a year earlier.

The company reported better-than-expected second quarter revenue of US$43.6 billion, beating Wall Street's average forecast for US$42.3 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company also announced an expanded cash return program for shareholders.

(Reporting By Poornima Gupta; Editing by Bernard Orr)