Hewlett-Packard suffered biggest loss in company history on $8 billion charge for EDS deal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO — Hewlett-Packard says it suffered an $8.9 billion loss during its most recent quarter as the technology company accounted for an acquisition that hasn’t panned out the way management envisioned.

The setback isn’t a surprise.

Hewlett-Packard Co. had telegraphed the news earlier when it disclosed plans to take an $8 billion charge to reflect the shrinking value of Electronic Data Systems, a technology consulting service that it bought for $13 billion in 2008.

The fiscal third-quarter loss announced Wednesday translates to $4.49 per share.

It’s by far the biggest quarterly setback in HP’s 73-year history. The company earned $1.9 billion, or 93 cents per share, at the same time last year.

HP’s revenue sank 5 per cent from last year to $29.7 billion. That was about $500 million below analyst projections.

17:13ET 22-08-12