HP services boss out as vendor braces for $10bn Q3 charges

Vendor to lose $8bn on goodwill impairment on services unit as John Visentin bids farewell

HP Enterprise Services (ES) is waving goodbye to its boss John Visentin as the vendor prepares to swallow charges of almost $10bn in its third fiscal quarter.

The vendor announced today that Visentin is leaving to "pursue other interests", and will be replaced on an acting basis by EMEA chief Mike Nefkens. The new boss has been tasked with boosting sales of applications, business processing and outsourcing services. Meanwhile incumbent CFO Jean-Jacques Charhon is to take on the role of HP ES chief operating officer, reporting into Nefkens.

HP's third fiscal quarter closed at the end of last month and the vendor is expecting ES' results to show a non-cash pre-tax goodwill impairment charge of about $8bn (£5.1bn) for the period.

"The impairment review stems from the recent trading values of HP's stock, coupled with market conditions and business trends within the services segment," said an HP statement issued today.

HP's ongoing restructuring programme - in which it aims to cut 27,000 jobs by the end of FY14 - also hit the vendor in the pocket during the just-finished quarter. Charges related to higher-than-expected uptake of early retirement offerings and a faster rollout of the restructuring programme than was anticipated are forecast to cost HP between $1.5bn and $1.7bn in Q3. This is up from a previous estimate of $1bn.