After the inside pages had gone to press yesterday, Hewlett-Packard Co came out with fiscal second quarter figures showing net profits up 40% at $326m on turnover up 12% at $4,183m, and reported that orders grew by 11% over the second quarter of fiscal 1991 at $4,183m; it said that orders for both laser and inkjet printers were up sharply during the quarter, and that mass-storage products showed a healthy increase in orders; nevertheless, the company says that the business environment remains very challenging with uncertainty over US recovery and sluggish conditions in some key economies around the world; the company also added some models to its Vectra personal computer line.
