AFP - Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. said its third-quarter net profit rose 54 percent from a year earlier, but warned a global hard disk drive shortage could impact future margins.

Lenovo reported this week its net profit for the three months ending December 31 was $153.46 million, up from $99.65 million a year earlier and beating analyst forecasts, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Revenue rose 44 percent to $8.37 billion from $5.81 billion, it said.

But Yang Yuanqing, Lenovo's chief executive, said in a conference call on the company's earnings that hard drive costs will remain high due to an ongoing shortage, Dow Jones said.

"We will try our best to offset this disadvantage through other components," he said.

Lenovo is by far the fastest growing of the world's top PC makers, with shipments rising to 13 million in the fourth quarter, or 36.9 percent more than a year earlier, according to research firm IDC.

The company had 14 percent of worldwide unit shipments in the quarter, just two percentage points behind Hewlett-Packard Co.

Its performance underscores the company's fast rise in the personal computer sector as it branches out into new product categories and its rivals struggle to boost sales in new markets.