HP shares hike amid CEO axe rumours

Reports suggest HP's board met yesterday to consider replacing under-fire leader Apotheker

HP's share price leapt by seven per cent amid rumours that chief executive Léo Apotheker (pictured) could be given the heave-ho.

According to both Bloomberg and ATD, HP's board met up yesterday to consider replacing its under-fire leader just ten months into his tenure.

HP's share price has bombed by nearly 50 per cent since Apotheker took the reins of the world's largest PC maker in November.

Apotheker's tenure has been dogged by disappointing results and investor angst over the company's direction. A series of moves announced last month designed to thrust HP further into the software and services market also failed to appease the markets.

According to the reports, former Ebay chief executive Meg Whiteman is among those in the frame should Apotheker be made to walk the plank.

Carter Lusher, chief analyst at Ovum, said: "That the board would be considering a change in CEO less that 10 months after Apotheker took over as CEO is a damning indictment of not just the new CEO, but also the board itself. Having approved the recent strategy changes, it seems spineless for the board just a month later to be potentially jettisoning that plan and its architect."