On the strength of higher iPod and Macintosh sales, Apple on Wednesday posted a profit of $565 million for its fiscal 2006 first quarter. Picking up from where it left off last year, Apple once again reported the highest revenue and earnings in the company’s history.

These results compare to revenue of $3.49 billion and a net profit of $295 million. Apple said that international sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple shipped over 1.2 million Macs and more than 14 million iPods during the quarter. This represents a 20 percent growth in Macs and a 207 percent growth in iPods over the year-ago quarter.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said he expects revenue of about $4.3 billion and an estimated $.04 per share expense impact from non-cash stock-based compensation.

Apple stock closed down $2.22 (2.62%) at $82.49. In after hours trading Apple is down $5.04 (6.11%) at $77.45.

Update More information was added from Apple's first quarter earnings. 4:50 pm 1/18/06

This story, "Apple posts $565 million profit" was originally published by PCWorld .