“HP delivered another strong quarterly performance, with balanced revenue growth, good cost discipline, improved margins in key businesses and strong cash flow,” saus Mark Hurd, HP chief executive officer and president. “We are pleased with our progress to date, but there is more work ahead of us.”
During the quarter, on a year-on-year basis, revenue in the Americas grew 5 per cent to US$10bn, Europe, the Middle East and Africa grew 8 per cent to $9.1bn, and the Asia Pacific region showed the strongest growth, up 12 per cent to $3.8bn. On a consolidated basis, when adjusted for the effects of currency, fourth quarter revenue grew 6 per cent year-on-year.
The Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) posted quarterly revenue of US$6.8bn, up 4 per cent year-on-year. On a year-on-year basis, consumer hardware revenue decreased 4 per cent, with printer unit shipments up 6 per cent. Commercial hardware revenue grew 4 per cent over the prior-year period, with printer unit shipments up 16 per cent. Colour laser unit shipments increased 41 per cent year-on-year, and enterprise multifunction printer shipments increased 83 per cent, reflecting continued momentum in key growth initiatives. Supplies revenue grew 7 per cent. Operating profit was $896m, or 13.2 per cent of revenue, down from a profit of $1.1bn, or 16.6 per cent of revenue, in the prior-year period.
For the four fiscal quarters ended October 31, 2005, HP revenue totaled US$86.7bn.
