EDS Acquisition Saves H-P Quarterly Results; But Profit Still Drops Sharply, Sparks More Layoffs

May 19, 2009
Without EDS, H-P financial quaterly results would have been dismal

Without EDS, H-P financial quaterly results would have been dismal

[Update] H-P said it will trim 2 percent of its 321,000 employees this year or 6,400 jobs, in addition to the already announced cuts associated with the EDS acquisition. Most the firing will happen outside the U.S. confirmed the Palo Alto, Calif.-company.

The recession is hitting H-P right at its core.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-company saw a revenue and profit decline in all of its businesses – aside of the Services division (more on that later) – including, PCs, servers, printers, software and financial services.

Even H-P’s golden egg, its Imaging and Printing Group (IPG), recorded a double digit decline in revenue (-23%), to $5.9 billion, from the same period a year ago.

On the other hand, H-P’s Services division recorded a whopping 99% increase in revenue to $8.5 billion, and an amazing 130% surge in profits, to $1.2 billion!

But the comparison is obviously flawed as H-P closed the EDS acquisition only last August and did not include EDS financial results until then.

Although H-P’s short-term outlook is still sombre, with revenue flat to down 2% sequentially, the world’s largest IT company still sees only a modest revenue drop for the year, at about 4% to 5%.


Analyst: H-P Is No Direct Competitor To IBM

February 27, 2009
Roger Kay, President, Endpoint Technologies

Roger Kay, President, Endpoint Technologies

Quite often these days, people compare the results and business models of IBM and Hewlett-Packard (H-P) as if they were direct competitors. In truth, they do compete in several key areas, notably enterprise hardware and services. But in other ways, they are very different beasts.

Services help smooth IBM revenues, profits

Under Sam Palmisano, IBM has transformed itself into an enterprise services-led company, with that
division accounting for $39.3 billion or 38% of the company’s $103.6 billion revenue in 2008.

By contrast, H-P, even with the EDS acquisition, derived only $22.4 billion or 18.9% of its $118.3 billion fiscal
2008 revenue from services.

In many cases, IBM’s services division pulls the company’s other groups along in its slipstream. When an IBM services sales team wins an enterprise customer with a complex set of requirements, it is often able to bring the hardware, software, and financing divisions along as well.

Services have a way of smoothing out a company’s revenue picture.  Long-term signings create a huge pile of deferred revenue, which comes in handy during lean years like this one.  IBM’s financials reflect the steadying nature of its large services business.

Read the rest of this entry »


IT Services Lift H-P Earnings; But Predicts Overall Revenues To Decline 5% For 2009

February 18, 2009
H-P's EDS acquisition boosted the company's first quarter profit

H-P's EDS acquisition boosted the company's first quarter profits

H-P keeps growing despite recession, and its quite remarkable for a $100+ billion company.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-company announced today financial results for its first fiscal quarter ending in January, with net revenue of $28.8 billion, up 1 per cent from a year earlier and up 4 per cent when adjusted for the effects of currency.

Operating profits were down only 5 per cent to $2.5 billion thanks to a record operating profit of $1.1 billion posted by H-P’s services division, up from $499 million the prior-year period. Services revenues increased 116 per cent to $8.7 billion due primarily to the EDS acquisition.

H-P estimates revenues for the current quarter to decline approximately two to three per cent from the prior-year period and full year revenues to decline approximately two to five per cent.


Technology Services Could Be Up While Economy Is Down, H-P’s Hurd Says

November 24, 2008

Information-technology services run “counter-cyclical” to an economic downturn and could be a bright spot in 2009, Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd said Monday.

Companies looking to save money by outsourcing

Companies looking to save money by outsourcing

“It’s all about lowering the costs of operation,” Hurd said. To do so, corporations outsource parts of their businesses to a company such as H-P or IBM.

“We’re pretty excited about the…services business to (create) a lot of value for H-P,” he said.

Speaking on fourth-quarter earnings conference call, Hurd pointed out that H-P’s outsourcing business had its best quarterly performance during the recent three months.

Customers have reacted well to the company’s purchase of EDS, even as 2,300 jobs were cut, he added.

“It’s just given us an opportunity to compete that we didn’t have,” Hurd said.


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