HP chief: 'We are in a strong position'

Meg Whitman thanks channel partners for their support as vendor reveals a strong start to FY2014

HP's turnover fell by three per cent less than the market was expecting for its first-quarter financial results.

Revenue stood at $28.2bn (£16.9bn), down one per cent from the same period the previous year and flat on a constant currency basis. The market was expecting a four per cent drop in revenue for the quarter.

GAAP net profit for the quarter grew to $1.4bn, up from $1.2bn in Q1 2013.

And the firm revealed it is sitting pretty on a cash pile of $1.6bn, up for the eighth consecutive quarter.

The news is welcome for chief executive Meg Whitman, who has seen the company endure a bashing over its acquisition of Autonomy under her predecessor, with latest reports alleging the firm knew about the accounting practices before the whistle was blown.

Talking about the results, Whitman (pictured) said: "HP is in a stronger position today than we've been in quite some time. The progress we're making is reflected in growth across several parts of our portfolio, the growing strength of our balance sheet, and the strong support we're receiving from customers and channel partners.

"Innovation is igniting our comeback, and at a time when many of our competitors are confronting new challenges, two years of turnaround work is setting us up for an exciting future."

Looking at the different technology sectors within the vendor, personal systems turnover was up four per cent year on year, printing revenue was down two per cent, enterprise group revenue grew one per cent, enterprise services revenue was down seven per cent and software revenue was down four per cent.