By Ian Fried, 21 November 2002 09:35
NEWS Hewlett-Packard has reported fourth-quarter profits, ahead of Wall Street expectations, but soured the news by stating it is to cut 1,100 more jobs than it had previously been announced. For the three months ended 31 October, the company announced profits of $390m, or 13 cents per share, on revenue of $18bn. That compares with a loss of $505m, or 17 cents per share, on revenue of $18.2bn for the same quarter a year ago, when combining the results of HP and Compaq. Excluding $331m in restructuring and other charges, HP earned $721m, or 24 cents per share, compared with $238m, or eight cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Analysts were expecting the company to report earnings of 22 cents per share, according to tracking company First Call. HP said its merger-related cost savings for the second half of fiscal 2002 were $651m - 30 per cent above its goal of $500m. Of those savings, $257m came from workforce reductions. The company cut 12,500 jobs, which was 2,500 more than it had originally planned. However, the cull doesn't end there and HP said it plans to cut a total of 17,900 jobs by the end of fiscal 2003. That's up 1,100 jobs from its most recent update and up 2,900 jobs from its original forecast. The new job cuts will come as part of a voluntary work force reduction program, primarily in Japan, HP said in a statement. Ian Fried writes for News.com
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