HP's quarterly profit drops 19%
- Source: Xinhua
- [09:07 August 19 2009]
- Comments
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) on Tuesday posted a 19-percent decrease of its quarterly profit, an indication of the ongoing slump in the personal computer (PC) market.
In HP's 2009 third fiscal quarter ended on July 31, the world's largest PC maker earned 1.64 billion US dollars, compared with 2.03 billion dollars in the same quarter a year earlier.
The company's revenue fell to 27.5 billion dollars in the quarter, down 2 percent from the year-ago period.
Excluding some costs, earnings per share was 91 cents, which together with the revenue number slightly beat analysts' estimates.
Except for the services segment, most HP business sectors witnessed decease in revenue, with PC sales dropping nearly 18 percent.
Though the company reported a 2-percent increase of PC unit shipments in the quarter, operating profit of its PC business plunged almost 34 percent.
"HP's performance this quarter is a result of our strong business portfolio, efficient cost structure and scale. We made positive gains in extending our market leadership in key segments and strengthening our competitive position," Mark Hurd, the company's chief executive officer, said in a statement.
"Business is stabilizing, and we are confident that HP will be an early beneficiary of an economic turnaround and will continue to outperform when conditions improve," he added.
