HP 2nd Quarter Earnings Up 34%; Revenue Up 3%
HP Net Earnings are 88 Cents per Share in Second Quarter.HP has reported a 34% increase in net earnings, a 3% increase in net revenue and a 10% increase in orders for the 1999 fiscal year's second quarter, which ended April 30. Net earnings for the quarter were $918 million, compared with $685 million in the second quarter last year. Earnings per share (EPS) on a diluted basis was 88 cents on approximately 1.05 billion shares of common stock and common-stock equivalents outstanding. This compares with diluted EPS of 65 cents on approximately 1.08 billion shares and equivalents in the second quarter last year.
"This is the third consecutive quarter that we’ve exceeded street expectations," said Lewis E. Platt, HP chairman and chief executive officer. "We executed well and turned in an excellent bottom line, and we’re encouraged by improved order growth of 10%. We had solid net earnings in PCs, strong profit performance in printing and imaging and significant profit improvement in our measurement business. Clearly, our challenge is to convert order growth into stronger growth in revenue."
Business SummaryNet revenue for the quarter was $12.4 billion, compared with $12.0 billion in the year-ago quarter. Net revenue in the United States was $5.4 billion, an increase of 2% compared with a year ago, while revenue from outside the United States rose 4% to $7.0 billion. In Europe, revenue totaled $4.5 billion, an increase of 8%. In Asia Pacific, revenue decreased 3% and was $1.9 billion. Combined revenue for Canada and Latin America was flat at $650 million. Net revenue in the computing and imaging business increased 4% over last year's second quarter and totaled $10.5 billion.
A full explanation of HP’s second quarter statistics is available at HP’s Web site.