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Reuters Market News

HP CFO Says Economy Weaker Than Expected
Tuesday August 27, 5:17 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ - News) Chief Financial Officer Bob Wayman said on Tuesday that economic weakness hurt sales in all business areas, but printers in its fiscal third quarter and that the slowdown was worse than expected.

He told Reuters that international softness, especially, was more pronounced than he had noted in a June 4 meeting with analysts, but the recently concluded merger with Compaq Computer Corp. was on track. Corporate goals for the merger were unchanged, he said.

"All of us are seeing a few new signs of weakness," he said, referring to the industry as a whole, when asked to compare his current outlook with that on June 4.

"We are leveling out in the U.S. and seeing some risks around the world."

Wayman said HP still planned to cut 15,000 jobs due to the merger and said his previous forecast of a revenue loss of 4.9 percent due to the merger was still a "good model."

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/020827/hewlett_outlook_1.html