By John Kell
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) posted weaker fiscal fourth-quarter
sales, the ninth consecutive top-line decline, as the computer
maker reported weaker software and printing revenue.
Though H-P's sales dropped across nearly all business segments,
the company swung to a profit in the latest quarter, as results
last year were stung by an $8.8 billion write-down that the company
booked in connection with its acquisition of U.K. software maker
Autonomy.
Results for the quarter, the first H-P has issued since it was
dropped from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, topped analyst
expectations. H-P also maintained its profit outlook for the new
year.
Investors cheered the news, sending shares up 6.6% to $26.72 in
after-hours trading.
"Our fourth quarter results demonstrate that H-P's turnaround
remains on track heading into fiscal 2014," President and Chief
Executive Meg Whitman said.
Though Ms. Whitman recently said the company is performing
better two years into a half-decade turnaround effort, challenges
remain. H-P, which has been late to jump on some technology
changes, has also seen its' personal computer business falter amid
surging sales of tablets and mobile devices made by Apple Inc.
(AAPL) or powered by Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android operating
system.
Ms. Whitman has sought to make the company more stable after
years of turmoil. The company has touted a plan to return 50% of
free cash flow to shareholders during fiscal 2014 through dividends
and share repurchases. Investors have been encouraged by signs of
stabilization at H-P, sending the company's shares up 76% so far in
2013.
For the quarter ended Oct. 31, H-P reported a profit of $1.41
billion, or 73 cents a share, compared with a prior-year loss of
$6.85 billion, or $3.49 a share. Excluding the steep write-down
last year, restructuring charges and other items, adjusted profit
fell to $1.01 from $1.16 a share.
Revenue slid 2.8% to $29.13 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected an adjusted
profit of $1 a share on $27.91 billion in revenue.
H-P's personal-systems unit's revenue fell 2%, as consumer
revenue slid 10% though commercial revenue grew 4%. Total unit
shipments increased 2%, as H-P shipped more notebooks but fewer
desktop computers.
Printing revenue inched down 1%. Revenue from the enterprise
group, which sells and maintains servers and other hardware,
increased 2%.
Enterprise services, which sells corporate-technology
consulting, computer security and other corporate-tech services,
posted a 9% drop in revenue. The top line also slid 9% for
software.
Looking to the fiscal first quarter, H-P sees an adjusted profit
between 82 cents to 86 cents a share, in line with Wall Street's
estimate of 85 cents.
Write to John Kell at john.kell@wsj.com
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