Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) said on Thursday it expects to post revenue and a profit in its next fiscal year in line with what analysts were expecting.
The forecast is bolstered by improving conditions in the personal computer market, which appears to be on the mend after its worst slump in years. Weakness in HP’s cash-cow printer-ink division isn’t easing as quickly, however.
HP chief financial officer Cathie Lesjak told financial analysts that revenue should be between US$117 billion and US$118 billion in the next fiscal year, which starts on Nov. 1.
HP’s profit, excluding one-time items, is expected to be US$4.20 to US$4.30 per share.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had been forecasting sales of US$118 billion and profit of US$4.25 per share for the company.
There are signs the PC industry is returning to health, which helps HP because its PC division contributes nearly one-third of the company’s overall sales.
This week, Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel Corp, the world’s top supplier of the microprocessors that act as the “brains” of PCs, predicted that PC sales could rise this year.
Otellini’s view is more optimistic than forecasts by market research firms Gartner and IDC, which are predicting a decline for the industry.
Lesjak said HP’s PC division is expected to grow between 3 percent and 5 percent in the company’s next fiscal year over this fiscal year.
She wouldn’t comment on PC trends in the current quarter. She would only say that HP expects overall information-technology spending to start growing again next year.
“The question is clearly, how robust is it going to be?” she said.
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