Hewlett-Packard Co has reported fourth quarter figures that failed to show the kind of recovery from a disappointing third quarter that many analysts had been expecting. The company which reported yesterday after the markets closed saw fourth quarter net income up 24.4% at $806m with income per share coming in at 20.9% at $0.75. This was well below some analysts predictions of $0.80 and a first call consensus of $0.77. In after hours trading, however Hewlett-Packard Co was said to be trading up slightly. Fourth quarter revenues were up 16.2% at $11.8bn over the previous year with net income for the full year up 20.6% to $3.1bn on revenues up 11.7% at $42.9bn. Net income per share for the year was up 19.9% at $2.95 for the year. The company saw strong revenue and order growth. During the quarter, sales in the US grew 17% to $5.5bn, while revenues from Europe grew 11% to $3.7bn with its Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America operations up 22% to $2.6bn. Orders for the full year were were up 11% to 43.9bn with US orders up 10% to 18.8bn while orders outside the US rose 12% to $24.3bn. Chairman Lewis Platt was qualified in his reaction to the quarter calling it a very good quarter in many respects where revenue and orders grew nicely and there was a solid profit improvement for the year as a whole.
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