Dell, the world’s second-biggest personal computer maker, on Thursday sounded a sour note on the economy, warning that the slowdown in information technology spending that has gripped the US in recent months has begun to spread to Europe and parts of Asia.

The warning came as the company reported worse-than-expected profits for the second quarter, sending its shares down more than 10 per cent in after-hours trading. It came two weeks after Hewlett-Packard, Dell’s bigger rival, trimmed its sales guidance for the coming months.