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Hewlett-Packard (HP), the IT systems and services company, has proved that it can achieve cost savings through its merger completed earlier this year with rival Compaq.
Systems giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) swung back to profit in its fourth quarter of 2002, as the company's headcount reduction programme kicked in and its lucrative printer division continued to deliver strong numbers.
Overall, the company reported net profits for the three months ending 31 October of $390 million compared to a loss of $505 million in the year-earlier period. Revenues fell by 1% to $18.1 billion.
The elimination of 12,500 positions, following its merger with Compaq, helped the company back to profitability, as did the HP printer business, where operating profits rose 89% year-over-year on a 12% jump in sales to $5.6 billion, partly due to the seasonal impact of the start of the school year.
Elsewhere, though, the picture was far from rosy. Revenues for HP's enterprise systems business fell by 5% to $4.1 billion, PC sales were down 6% to $5.1 billion, software sales nose-dived 15%, and IT services revenues dropped 3% to $3.1 billion.
