Fiorina Picks Up Post of Chairman at HP
Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s No. 3 computer maker, said Friday that Chief Executive and President Carly Fiorina has added the post of chairman, becoming the first woman to hold all three top jobs at a major technology company.
Hewlett also announced a $1-billion stock buyback, said it was comfortable with analysts’ consensus fiscal fourth-quarter earnings estimate of $1.03 a share and expressed confidence that it would meet revenue growth targets of 15%.
Hewlett’s shares jumped $9.19 to close at $104.19 on the New York Stock Exchange.
As chairman, Fiorina, 46, succeeds Richard Hackborn, a board member who has been serving as nonexecutive chairman. Fiorina is one of just a few women at the helm of a Fortune 500 company.
“This appointment is a strong vote of confidence in Carly’s leadership and the direction she has set for the company over the past 14 months,” Hackborn said. “Under her stewardship, the company is now poised for accelerating growth.”
Hackborn remains a member of the board.
In the buyback, shares will be purchased in the open market or in private transactions from time to time depending on market conditions.
“HP’s strong cash flow enables us to accelerate share repurchases while we continue to make investments required to fuel our growth in the Internet area,” Chief Financial Officer Robert Wayman said.
The repurchase plan is in addition to a continuing buyback, previously announced, to offset dilution from employee stock plans.
Hewlett-Packard has about 988.7 million shares outstanding, according to Standard & Poor’s MarketScope.
The Palo Alto-based company reported earnings of 75 cents a share for its fiscal 1999 fourth quarter. The consensus forecast for the fiscal 2000 fourth quarter, ending Oct. 31, represents a jump of more than 33% from the year-earlier results.
Hewlett also said it had hired Ernst & Young to replace PricewaterhouseCoopers as its auditor. The company said there were no disagreements with PricewaterhouseCoopers regarding accounting principles or audited financial statements.
Hewlett said the reason for the change was its discussions about the possible acquisition of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ global management and information technology consulting practice.
