Issue #0318/3 - With consolidation of the merger between Hewlett-Packard and Compaq now almost completed after a year, Hewlett-Packard has released figures for Q1 (calendar) of 2003 that show that its financial position has strengthened each quarter. Following the inevitable losses at the time of the merger, the company now reports improving profitability in all areas over the year and gross margins that are up by 0.5 percentage points sequentially from Q4 of 2002 (calendar). Earnings per share are ahead of Wall Street expectations and ratios of sales of computer products since the merger are ahead of analysts expectations (Hewlett-Packard sales plus Compaq sales). Analysts expected a ratio of 1 to 1.5-1.7 – actuals were 1 to 1.9 for UNIX boxes, 1 to 1.8 for servers and 1 to 1.86 for PC Servers.
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