Hewlett-Packard last night said that its second-quarter earnings jumped to $252 million from $47 million in the same period a year ago as the tech firm rebounded somewhat from the sector's slump.
The earnings amounted to 25 cents a share, meeting consensus estimate in its last stand-alone earnings report ahead of its merger with Compaq Computer.
'While a muted recovery in the second half is still possible, we are not counting on meaningful improvement in IT spending until 2003,' chairman and chief executive Carly Fiorina said.
Sales at the company, which recently won a legal battle to complete its merger with Compaq, fell to $10.621 billion from $11.668 billion a year earlier, just ahead of the consensus estimate.
'We stayed focused and executed well during a difficult quarter,' Fiorina said. 'The IT spending environment remains tough around the world,' she said.
HP will issue an earnings outlook on June 4 for the company to reflect its merger with Compaq.
