HP announces more job cuts

Hewlett-Packard plans to cut as many as 16,000 more jobs in a major ramp-up of CEO Meg Whitman's years-long effort to turn around the personal computer maker and relieve pressure on its profit margins.

HP, which had originally planned to shed a total of 34,000 jobs as part of that corporate overhaul, said it now estimated it needed to slash 11,000 to 16,000 more positions.

The Silicon Valley company is trying to reduce its reliance on PCs and move toward computing equipment and networking gear for enterprises, part of Whitman's effort to curtail revenue declines and return the world's No. 1 PC maker to growth.

The company today posted a bigger-than-expected one percent drop in quarterly revenue, as it struggled to maintain its grip on the shrinking personal computer market while protecting profit margins.

That quarterly revenue decline was the 11th consecutive fall for HP. It recorded sales of US$27.3 billion (AUD$29.6 billion) in its fiscal second quarter, ended April 30, just shy of the US$27.41 billion Wall Street had expected.

The results were posted on HP's website more than half an hour early, ahead of the market's closing bell. Its shares slid as much as three percent before recovering to trade about one percent lower at US$32.15.

HP did not immediately respond to requests for comment on its early results release.

The company forecast full-year earnings of US$3.63 to US$3.75 a share, compared with Wall Street's estimate for US$3.71.

It reported non-GAAP diluted net earnings of 88 cents a share in the fiscal second quarter, up one percent from a year earlier and about level with what analysts, on average, had expected.