HP Q1 revenues up, but profits fall short

Hewlett-Packard returned a profit for the quarter of $929 million, or 87 cents per share, on revenues of more than $11.8 billion, up 15 per cent on the same period last year. But Wall Street had expected the manufacturer to post a profit of 88 cents per share. HP shares closed down 25 cents to $61.63 prior to the announcement.

Company officials blamed Asia's troubled economics for the watered-down profits, and indicated that subsequent quarters might experience similar softness.

"Going forward, our challenge is to maintain strong growth while rigorously controlling costs," said CEO Lewis Platt in a prepared release. "Across HP, managers are making tough choices about programs and priorities."

Those tough choices will include the restructure parts of the company's inkjet business to save more than $100 million per year.