HP's Q4 revenue falls 2.5% on weak enterprise demand

HEWLETT-PACKARD Co (HP) said its quarterly revenue fell in almost every business segment over the year, highlighting weaknesses ahead of the company's planned 2015 separation of its enterprise services from its traditional computer and printing units. Sales fell 2.5 per cent in the fourth quarter to US$28.41 billion, from US$29.13 billion a year earlier, HP said on Tuesday.

Analysts had expected US$28.76 billion. Profit declined 2.7 per cent to US$2.01 billion, or US$1.06 per share, compared with US$1.01 per share a year ago, in line with analysts' expectations. On a more traditional accounting basis, profit declined 5.7 per cent to US$1.33 billion, or 70 cents a share, compared with 73 cents a share a year ago.

"I've always said that turnarounds aren't linear," chief executive Meg Whitman told analysts on a conference call while highlighting HP's performance compared with three years ago, when she became CEO. "We're right where we thought we'd be." The enterprise group and enterprise services, areas that Ms Whitman had previously flagged as growth drivers, showed revenue declines of 4 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.