HP forecasts bleak second quarter

Hewlett-Packard (HP) forecast fiscal second-quarter profit that fell short of analysts’ estimates as consumers curtail personal-computer purchases, shifting computing tasks to smartphones and tablets made by rivals. Profit before some items in the period that ends in April will be 88 cents to 91 cents a share, Hewlett-Packard said. That was less than the 95-cent average analyst estimate, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In the first quarter, which ended Jan.31, profit excluding some items declined to 92 cents a share, compared with analysts’ average estimate of 87 cents. Net income fell 44 per cent to $1.47 billion, or 73 cents a share, from $2.61 billion, or $1.17 a share, a year earlier, Hewlett-Packard said. Sales fell 7 per cent to $30 billion. Analysts had projected $30.8 billion. Sales in the PC group dropped 15 per cent to $8.87 billion in the period that ended in January, as consumers held off on buying new machines in the first full quarter under Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman. Revenue from servers, printers and storage gear also declined, suggesting that Whitman’s attempts to reverse a sales slump aren’t yet taking hold. “Headwinds will likely continue through the second quarter,” Abhey Lamba, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA Inc., said in a research note. “The company is again being conservative for the second quarter and remains cautious.” The New York-based analyst began coverage of Hewlett-Packard on Feb.8 with a “neutral” rating. Hewlett-Packard shares slipped to $28.58 in extended trading after the report. They had fallen 1.4 per cent to $28.94 in New York. In Germany, the stock dropped as much as 2.6 per cent to the equivalent of $28.30 in pre-market trading. The stock has climbed 12 per cent this year after losing 39 per cent of its value in 2011. On a conference call after the report, Whitman said the company’s PCs, printers and information-technology services haven’t been compelling enough to attract customers’ spending. “For years, we’ve been basically running our business in silos,” she said. “We underinvested in innovation.” First-quarter sales of home computers fell 25 per cent and business-PC revenue was down 7 per cent, the Palo Alto, California-based company said. Consumers may wait to buy new PCs until Microsoft Corporation releases its Windows 8 software later this year. Rival Dell Inc. earlier this week forecast lower sales for the current period amid tepid demand from consumers and governments. Hewlett-Packard’s printer group also has too many unsold products sitting in dealers’ inventory, Lamba said in an interview. Sales in the printer group declined 7 per cent to $6.26 billion. Information-technology services revenue rose 1.1 per cent to $8.63 billion, though profit margin narrowed. Shifting to more profitable types of services will take time, Lamba said. “It’s not going to be a one-year turnaround,” he said. Sales of servers, storage and networking equipment declined 10 per cent to $5.02 billion, Hewlett-Packard said. Software revenue climbed 30 per cent to $946 million. Whitman said she is attacking inefficient product-design and sales processes and investing in research and development to try to make the company more competitive. In an interview, she said she’s paring the number of PCs and printers Hewlett-Packard sells and making it easier for salespeople to adjust price quotes to book an order. She’s also been holding roundtables in Houston and other cities with chief information officers of big customers to suss out their needs. “We’ve got everyone we can get calling on customers,” Whitman said. “I’ve got board members calling on customers.” When the company reported fourth-quarter results Nov.21, it forecast profit for fiscal 2012, which began Nov.1, of at least $4 a share” analysts had previously expected $4.58. The company said yesterday there has been no change to its annual forecast. Since she took the helm, Whitman has been seeking to halt the missed sales forecasts and strategy shifts that marked the tenure of her predecessor, Leo Apotheker, who resigned Sept.22. She has also said she’ll eschew big acquisitions.