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Technology giant Apple has reported a 67 per cent rise in fourth quarter profits, with sales of its Macintosh personal computers driving growth.

Apple reported a net profit of $904 million (£444 million) for the three months to September 29th, up from the profit of $542 million (£266 million) achieved in the corresponding period of 2006 and higher than analysts had expected.

It also reported a 29 per cent increase in sales, which climbed to $6.22 billion (£3.06 billion) – up from $4.84 billion (£2.38 billion) a year ago.

The California-based company added that international sales accounted for 40 per cent of revenue over the fourth quarter.

Mac sales were largely responsible for Apple's healthy profit rise, with the company shipping 2.2 million of the computers over the period. The figure represents a 34 per cent rise in the number of Macs shipped compared to the same time last year.

Apple also sold 10.2 million of its iPod music players over the fourth quarter, up 17 per cent on the same quarter of the previous year but slower than the 35 per cent growth recorded between the fourth quarters of 2005 and 2006.

Meanwhile the company revealed that it sold 1.12 million iPhone handsets during the three months to the end of September, bringing total sales of its flagship new product to 1.38 million so far this year.

Apple, which is due to launch the iPhone in the UK next month, stressed that it was confident about its prospects in the run up to the key Christmas season.

"We’re looking forward to a strong December quarter as we enter the holiday season with Apple’s best products ever," said the company's chief executive Steve Jobs.

Apple said it expects to generate sales totalling around $9.2 billion (£4.5 billion) during the first quarter of 2008.