HP Inc. CFO Cathie Lesjak to Retire in Early 2019 -- Update
30 May 2018 - 9:25AM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Armental
Cathie Lesjak, a Hewlett-Packard veteran who as chief financial
officer helped steer the company through one of the largest
corporate breakups, plans to retire from HP Inc. in early 2019.
Until her retirement, Ms. Lesjak will take on the operations
chief role formerly held by Jon Flaxman, who died in March.
Steve Fieler, another known and trusted name at HP, will succeed
her on July 1 as chief financial officer of HP Inc., the printer
and personal-computer maker born from the 2015 split.
The executive changes were disclosed Tuesday as HP raised its
annual forecast following strong results in the most recent
quarter, and said it expected to book up to $200 million more in
restructuring costs as it increased the number of workers that it
plans to lay off.
The company said it now expects to make for the year $2.75 to
$2.82 a share, or $1.97 to $2.02 on an adjusted basis, up from its
earlier view of $2.53 to $2.63 a share, or $1.90 to $2 as
adjusted.
Second-quarter profit surged to $1.06 billion from $559 million
in the same quarter of 2017. Excluding restructuring charges and
other items, profit rose to 48 cents a share from 40 cents a share
a year earlier.
Net revenue rose 13% to $14 billion, beating the consensus
forecast, helped by a 27% revenue increase at printing commercial
hardware, which includes last year's acquisition of Samsung
Electronics Co.'s printer business. HP's PC business, its largest
by revenue, also reported solid gains as the company continued to
gain market share.
"The big four continue to grow at the expense of the smaller
players," Chief Executive Dion Weisler said Tuesday during a
conference call with journalists.
Ms. Lesjak, who joined Hewlett Packard in 1986, served as
finance chief through two tumultuous administrations at the company
and as interim CEO between the Mark Hurd and Leo Apotheker
eras.
The 59-year-old, who said she was looking forward to having some
time off, is credited for helping drive HP's performance and
reinvention after the 2015 business split.
Asked why the company hadn't turned to an outside candidate, Mr.
Weisler said: "It's really difficult to come into this company cold
and be effective."
Mr. Fieler, 45, joined HP in 2004 but left in 2014 to become CFO
at Proteus Digital Health. He returned to HP last year as head of
global treasury, responsible for managing cash, debt, risk
management and capital structure as well as financial planning and
analysis, investor relations, credit and collections, and corporate
development.
--Jay Greene contributed to this article.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 29, 2018 19:10 ET (23:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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