[h=3]A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP[/h]Hewlett-Packard Co. on Tuesday said a British company it bought last year misstated its finances, resulting in a massive write-down of the value of the business.
H-P said the majority of the $8.8 billion charge is "linked to serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations" at Autonomy that occurred prior to H-P's acquisition of the firm.
The revelation is another blow for H-P, which is struggling to reinvent itself as PC sales shrink.
Among other things, Autonomy makes search engines that help companies find vital information stored across computer networks. Acquiring it was part of an attempt by H-P to strengthen its portfolio of high-value products and services for corporations and government agencies.
H-P shares sank almost 11%, or $1.45, to $11.85 per share in premarket trading.
H-P's net loss for the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 31, amounted to $6.85 billion, or $3.49 per share. That compares with net income of $239 million, or 12 cents per share, in the same period last year.
H-P is in the midst of a multi-year turnaround as the personal-computer market faces growing pressure from mobile devices, intense price competition and economic uncertainty in emerging markets. Last week, rival Dell Inc. reported its fiscal third-quarter earnings nearly halved as it recorded weaker personal computer sales to consumers and corporate customers.
H-P has also faced falling interest in printers among consumers, who have shifted from relying on paper to using their mobile devices instead. Servers have seen their prices fall along with desktop and laptop computers, taking margins along with them.
In March, the company unveiled a sweeping reorganization plan that would fold its once-dominant printing business into its PC-making personal systems group and centralize many other functions. It later disclosed plans to lay off 27,000 of its workers. Though the company has insisted its computer, software, services and printer businesses can be reinvigorated, it has said it expects revenue for the current fiscal year to fall in each of its largest businesses.
Chief Executive Meg Whitman said Tuesday that "fiscal 2012 was the first year in a multiyear journey to turn H-P around." She added that the company is "starting to see progress in key areas, such as new product releases and customer wins."
Revenue sank 6.5%, or 4% adjusting for currency impacts, to $30 billion. Analysts had expected $30.43 billion. The latest quarter marks H-P's fifth consecutive quarter of falling sales.
The company's operating margin swung to negative 21.7% from positive 2.5% a year ago. Total costs and expenses surged 16%.
H-P said revenue from its personal systems unit was down 14% as commercial revenue decreased 13%, and consumer revenue declined 16%.
Revenue from the company's services segment fell about 6%, while revenue in its enterprise, servers, storage and networking segment dropped about 9%. Sales in the printing business fell about 5%. A relative brightspot was software revenue, which grew 14%.
H-P said the majority of the $8.8 billion charge is "linked to serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations" at Autonomy that occurred prior to H-P's acquisition of the firm.
The revelation is another blow for H-P, which is struggling to reinvent itself as PC sales shrink.
Among other things, Autonomy makes search engines that help companies find vital information stored across computer networks. Acquiring it was part of an attempt by H-P to strengthen its portfolio of high-value products and services for corporations and government agencies.
H-P shares sank almost 11%, or $1.45, to $11.85 per share in premarket trading.
H-P's net loss for the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 31, amounted to $6.85 billion, or $3.49 per share. That compares with net income of $239 million, or 12 cents per share, in the same period last year.
H-P is in the midst of a multi-year turnaround as the personal-computer market faces growing pressure from mobile devices, intense price competition and economic uncertainty in emerging markets. Last week, rival Dell Inc. reported its fiscal third-quarter earnings nearly halved as it recorded weaker personal computer sales to consumers and corporate customers.
H-P has also faced falling interest in printers among consumers, who have shifted from relying on paper to using their mobile devices instead. Servers have seen their prices fall along with desktop and laptop computers, taking margins along with them.
In March, the company unveiled a sweeping reorganization plan that would fold its once-dominant printing business into its PC-making personal systems group and centralize many other functions. It later disclosed plans to lay off 27,000 of its workers. Though the company has insisted its computer, software, services and printer businesses can be reinvigorated, it has said it expects revenue for the current fiscal year to fall in each of its largest businesses.
Chief Executive Meg Whitman said Tuesday that "fiscal 2012 was the first year in a multiyear journey to turn H-P around." She added that the company is "starting to see progress in key areas, such as new product releases and customer wins."
Revenue sank 6.5%, or 4% adjusting for currency impacts, to $30 billion. Analysts had expected $30.43 billion. The latest quarter marks H-P's fifth consecutive quarter of falling sales.
The company's operating margin swung to negative 21.7% from positive 2.5% a year ago. Total costs and expenses surged 16%.
H-P said revenue from its personal systems unit was down 14% as commercial revenue decreased 13%, and consumer revenue declined 16%.
Revenue from the company's services segment fell about 6%, while revenue in its enterprise, servers, storage and networking segment dropped about 9%. Sales in the printing business fell about 5%. A relative brightspot was software revenue, which grew 14%.