HP Q3 profit plunges 19%

Technology major Hewlett Packard has reported a 19 per cent drop in third-quarter profit at $1.64 billion mainly on account of lower revenues from personal computer and printer segments.

For the three months ended July 31, 2009, the firm posted profit to the tune of $1.64 billion compared to $2.02 billion in the year-ago period.

The company's revenues for the latest quarter fell to $27.5 billion from $28 billion in the same period a year ago, it said in a statement.

Even though, the firm saw a two per cent increase in shipment of personal computers, revenues from the personal systems group (PSG) declined 18 per cent to $8.4 billion.

Further, revenues from the Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) tumbled 20 per cent to $5.7 billion and printer unit shipments decreased 23 per cent.

"Revenue from outside of the US in the third quarter accounted for 62 per cent of total revenue, with revenue in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) declining six per cent over the prior-year period while accounting for 10 per cent of total HP revenue," the statement said.

HP chairman and chief executive officer Mark Hurd said that business is stabilising and that he is confident of the company to become an early beneficiary an economic turnaround.