The fiscal year ended with another storming quarter for Hewlett-Packard Co, which saw a 60% increase in net profit, a 25% increase in orders and 23% growth in turnover, taking the company to just shy of the $25,000m a year barrier – pretty good for a company that did only $20,000m last year. Orders in the quarter were $6,900m with US orders up 22% to $3,400m and the rest of the world doing better, adding 28% to $3,500m. Orders in the computer business were $5,400m in the quarter, up 28%. On the downside, as a percentage of turnover, cost of goods sold was 62.2% in the latest fourth quarter, compared with 61.4% in the year-ago quarter but down from 62.3% in the third quarter. Growth in cost of sales has moderated somewhat over the last few quarters, but the company expects the competitive pricing environment across its businesses to keep upward pressure on the costs. Operating expenses for the quarter rose 9% and were 26.8% of revenues, compared with 30.2% of revenues in the year-ago quarter, more than offsetting the increase in cost of sales, giving an 11% operating profit margin, the best since the second quarter of 1992. The computer business grew by 26% to $19,632m.
