Hewlett Packard beats expectations

Fourth-quarter results still sharply down on last year

Despite beating analysts' expectations, Hewlett Packard's (HP's) fourth-quarter results are sharply down on last year.

The company, which has seen its share price plummet after the announcement of its proposed merger with Compaq, said it had cut operating costs by four per cent from the previous quarter.

Turnover for the quarter ended 31 October fell to $10.9bn (£7.5bn), from $13.3bn a year ago. Net profit for the quarter was down to $97m, compared with $922m a year ago.

Chief executive Carly Fiorina said in a statement: "Results were driven by excellent execution in imaging and printing and good performance in services.

"While overall computing systems results remain weak, we saw improvement in certain segments, including storage and PCs. We reduced our cost structure, improved our operational effectiveness and managed inventory aggressively."

HP said it expected turnover to fall again slightly in its first fiscal 2002 quarter. It had made 4,000 of its 6,000 planned job cuts, with the remainder scheduled for 2002.