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Computer maker Dell has announced that it is to restate four years worth of financial results following an internal probe into the company's accounting practices.

The US-based firm expects to report a reduction of up to $150 million (£76 million) in net income for the period concerned as a result of the audit, which uncovered evidence that top Dell executives had endorsed adjustments to company accounts in order to meet quarterly performance targets.

Dell's review of its accounting practices was prompted by an ongoing investigation that the US securities and exchange commission is carrying out into Dell's accounting and reporting practices.

The outcome of the company's own probe into "improper" accounting adjustments will result in the restatement of Dell's financial statements from fiscal 2003 until the first quarter of the 2007 financial year.

Dell claims that the internal investigation, which began in August 2006, involved the scrutiny of more than five million documents and over 200 interviews with company personnel in regard to accounts for the period in question.

In a statement yesterday the company revealed: "The investigation found evidence that, in that timeframe, account balances were reviewed, sometimes at the request or with the knowledge of senior executives, with the goal of seeking adjustments so that quarterly performance objectives could be met."

Dell says that following the audit it has taken "remedial action" to change company practices in order to restore confidence in the firm's financial reporting.

"The rigorous examination of our accounting and finance processes, along with the remedial actions taken and planned, have made and will continue to make Dell a far stronger company and provide a solid foundation on which to move the business forward, reinforce our standards and focus our energy on serving our customers," insisted Dell vice chairman and chief financial officer Donald Carty.

Meanwhile rival company Hewlett Packard, which seized the title of the world's top PC maker from Dell last year, has reported a 29 per cent rise in third-quarter profits as a result of cost cutting and a fall in component prices.