Laptop sales jump helps HP profit

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has reported a 21% jump in sales of laptops for the August to October period and a 99% rise in revenue from technology services.

The increase in services revenues follows HP's acquisition of Electronic Data Systems (EDS).

HP's fourth-quarter net profit declined to $2.11bn from $2.17bn a year ago, with revenue up 19% to $33.6bn.

"We were impressed with the notebook revenue," said analyst Bill Kreher at Edward Jones.

"They certainly benefited from the acquisition of EDS. It bears fruit in the results, which are still strong in my opinion," Mr Kreher added.

HP had announced preliminary results last week to reassure investors.

In September, HP announced it would lay off over 24,000 employees following its acquisition of EDS.

HP shares have lost a third of their value in the past two months on fears that the economic slowdown will hit the market for personal computers.

Last year, HP overtook Dell to become the biggest seller of PCs.

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