Hewlett Packard increases profits but future uncertain

Hewlett Packard net profit in the quarter to January 31 rose 84.9% from the previous quarter to

$721m (€670m), or 24 cents a share.

However, revenue quarter on quarter declined by 0.9 % to $ 17.88bn (€16.6bn), below analysts.

While sales in Europe and Asia remained steady, sales in the US and Japan fell slightly and were weaker than expected.

Due to the merger with Compaq in 2002 comparison cannot be made with the year ago quarter.

The increase in profit was brought about by cost cutting and a smaller operating loss in its enterprise business.

Outlook for the current quarter remains flat though the company expects 27 cents a share profit for the current quarter.

CEO Carly Fiorina seems unable to predict the IT spending patterns in the coming months. “It is difficult to declare a trend in 2003, up or down.” she said.