HP banks on infrastructure sales in solid Q4

Vendor giant sees muted growth in services, software and systems

Core sales of infrastructure hardware were instrumental as industry bellwether HP enjoyed a decent fourth quarter.

For the three months to the end of October, the vendor's worldwide revenue rose eight per cent annually to $33.3bn (£20.9bn). GAAP net profit was up five per cent to $2.5bn.

For the whole year, sales grew 10 per cent to $126bn, with net income increasing 14 per cent to $8.8bn.

HP's fourth-quarter services revenue was more-or-less flat on the corresponding period last year and stood at $9bn. Software sales rose just one per cent to $974m.

Turnover for the vendor's Personal Systems Group increased four per cent to $10.3bn, while the Imaging and Printing Group grew sales eight per cent to $7bn. HP Financial Services boosted Q4 turnover 11 per cent annually to $809m.

HP's Enterprise Storage and Servers (ESS) was the firm's start performer in Q4, with sales growing 25 per cent to $5.3bn. HP recently moved its networking business into the ESS fold. No figure was given for Q4 networking revenue, but HP claims organic growth and the 3Com acquisition sales grow more than threefold.

HP chief executive Léo Apotheker said: "HP proved once again [in Q4] that it is able to execute given its market strengths and technology leadership. I have seen firsthand that we have talented people who are focused on delivering value for our customers. Our market opportunity is vast, and I am confident that we will extend our leadership into the future."