Palo Alto, Calif. — Strong growth across all regions and product categories — namely the Americas and personal and notebook computers — boosted fiscal second quarter revenue Hewlett-Packard’s personal systems group by 17 percent, hitting $6 billion, up from $5.1 billion in the year-ago period. However, revenue was lower than the first fiscal quarter, which posted a $6.2 billion figure.
Desktop revenue climbed 14 percent in the second quarter, ended April 30, compared with the same period a year earlier, while notebooks grew 26 percent in the same time frame.
HP’s personal systems segment registered a second quarter operating profit of $45 million, about double the $23 million recorded in the year-ago three months, but less than the $62 million reported in the first quarter.
For the six months, personal systems revenue came in at $12.2 billion, up from a year-earlier $10.3 billion. Operating profit for the six months jumped to $107 million, about double the $56 million registered year-on-year.
During the second quarter, overall revenue in the Americas increased 4 percent over the same three months in 2003, reaching $8.4 billion. Growth was even stronger in the Asia-Pacific region and Japan, where second quarter overall revenue jumped 22 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
“HP delivered a strong quarter with solid revenue gains and continued profitability across the portfolio,” said Carly Fiorina, chairman/CEO. “We surpassed $20 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time in our history, with record second quarter revenue in PCs, enterprise hardware, software, services, and imaging and printing.”
Consolidated second quarter revenue — which added server sales strength and a 15 percent increase in sales of supplies for printers to the benefits from PCs and notebooks — jumped 12 percent, compared with the same three months a year earlier. This reached $20.1 billion, up from $18 billion in the same three months in 2003.
Second quarter consolidated earnings climbed 34 percent, hitting $884 million, compared with $659 million year-on-year. Excluding special items, HP earned $1 billion in the period, up from $877 million the previous year.
For the six months, consolidated revenue moved up to $39.6 billion from $35.9 billion a year ago. Net earnings came in at $1.8 billion for the six months, compared with $1.4 billion in the same time frame last year.
Looking to its second half, HP expects revenue to range between $39.7 billion and $40.7 billion.
