HP reports mixed quarter on weak PC sales

22.02.2011
Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday reported strong profits for its first fiscal quarter of 2011 but the results were dampened by weakness in its PC and services divisions.

HP's profit for the quarter ended Jan. 31 was US$1.36 per share before unusual items, up 27 percent from a year earlier and ahead of the $1.29 per share that financial analysts had expected, according to a consensus poll from Thomson Reuters.

Revenue was $32.30 billion, up 4 percent from a year earlier but below the $32.96 billion that analysts had been looking for.

"If you use Q1 as a marker, it's clear we do a lot of things well at HP. It's also clear that we have isolated areas that we need to improve," CEO Leo Apotheker told reporters after the results came out. "I'm committed to making these improvements to drive increased growth and operational excellence."

Revenue from HP's services division declined 2 percent from last year to $8.6 billion. Revenue from its Personal Systems Group also declined, by 1 percent, to $10.4 billion.

HP's enterprise hardware business fared better. Revenue from servers, network and storage gear climbed 22 percent to $5.6 billion. And revenue from printers and related products increased by 7 percent to $6.6 billion, HP said.