BEST OF THE WEB

HP’s Q3 profit down slightly, though sales up, over a year ago

Hewlett-Packard’s financial recovery is still rocky, though there are some encouraging signs.

The company reported Wednesday that sales during the quarter that ended July 31 hit US$27.6 billion, up one per cent from a year ago, SiliconValley.com reported. But its profit was just under US$1 billion, compared with about US$1.4 billion for the same period 12 months ago.

“I continue to be very encouraged by the progress we’re making,” CEO Meg Whitman said during a conference call with analysts. But she noted that some aspects of HP’s business — notably printing and software, which saw a decline in sales — “still face some challenges.”

Here’s a break-down of the numbers:

  • Personal Systems revenue (including PCs) was up 12 per cent year over year. Commercial revenue increased 14 per cent and consumer revenue increased 8 per cent. Total units sold were up 13 per cent with desktops units up 9 per cent and notebooks units up 18 per cent
  • Printing revenue was down 4 per cent year over year. Total hardware units were down 5 per cent with commercial hardware units down 2 per cent and consumer hardware units down 6 per cent. Supplies revenue was down 5 per cent.
  • Enterprise Group  (including servers and storage) revenue was up 2 per cent year over year. Industry Standard Servers revenue was up 9 per cent, Storage revenue was down 4 per cent, Business Critical Systems revenue was down 18 per ent, Networking revenue was up 4 per cent and Technology Services revenue was down 3 per cent;
  • Enterprise Services revenue was down 6 per cent year over year. Application and Business Services revenue was down 4 per cent and Infrastructure Technology Outsourcing revenue declined 8 per cent.
  • Software revenue was down 5 per cent year over year. License revenue was down 16 per cent, support revenue was flat, professional services revenue was down 3 per cent and software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenue was up 8 per cent.
  • HP Financial Services revenue was down 3 per cent year over year with a 1 per cent increase in net portfolio assets and a 14% increase in financing volume. The business delivered an operating margin of 9.2 per cemt
Howard Solomon
Howard Solomon
Currently a freelance writer, I'm the former editor of ITWorldCanada.com and Computing Canada. An IT journalist since 1997, I've written for several of ITWC's sister publications including ITBusiness.ca and Computer Dealer News. Before that I was a staff reporter at the Calgary Herald and the Brampton (Ont.) Daily Times. I can be reached at hsolomon [@] soloreporter.com

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

ITW in your inbox

Our experienced team of journalists and bloggers bring you engaging in-depth interviews, videos and content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives.

More Best of The Web