HP profits fall sharply
17/08/2005 - 11:01:27Computer giant Hewlett-Packard's net profit for the three months to the end of July fell to $73m (€59m).
The drop was due to a tax charge on repatriated profits under an incentive provided by US law, the compony said.
The profit was down from $586m (€477m) in the same period last year and the results were further rediced by $960m (€781.6m) in taxes as the company repatriated $14.5bn (€11.8bn) from overseas.
Excluding once-off items, the computer and technology services group earned $1.1bn (€895m), or 36 cents a share as revenue grew to $20.8bn (€16.9bn), beating analysts' forecasts.
HP employs 4,000 people in Ireland.
