HP expects to take $8 billion hit over its purchase of EDS

Normally shake ups in management and earnings outlooks don't really grab our attention. But, buried in the PR for just such moves from HP today was a particularly intriguing tidbit of information. In Q3 the company expects to be hit for $8 billion in pre-tax assets (but not cash) as part of an "impairment of goodwill" charge related to the purchase of Electronic Data Systems. That's in addition to a $1.5 billion charge it'll be absorbing following the layoff of some 27,000 employees in May. While the company has actually raised its earnings outlook for the quarter, we'll have to wait till August 22nd to find out just how much these two charges will affect the bottom line. For some more detail, check out the PR after the break.

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HP Announces Organizational Changes for Enterprise Services Company Increases Q3FY12 Non-GAAP Outlook

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire - Aug 8, 2012) - HP (NYSE: HPQ) today announced that it has appointed Mike Nefkens, currently senior vice president and general manager of HP Enterprise Services (ES) -- EMEA, to lead HP ES on an acting basis. John Visentin, who previously ran HP ES, will be leaving the company to pursue other interests.

HP also announced today that Jean-Jacques (JJ) Charhon, senior vice president and chief financial officer of HP ES, was appointed chief operating officer for HP ES. Charhon will focus on increasing customer satisfaction and improving service delivery efficiency, which will help drive profitable growth.

Nefkens will be responsible for driving growth and innovation for HP's applications, business processing and outsourcing services. Nefkens has led successful customer IT transformations for some of HP's largest services accounts. Prior to joining Electronic Data Systems (EDS), he spent 10 years with Holland Chemical International NV, where he held several executive positions in Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela and the western United States. Nefkens will report to Meg Whitman, president and chief executive officer, HP.

Charhon joined HP in 2010 as vice president of Finance for the Personal Systems Group. He brings a decade of services experience in the technology sector from both General Electric (GE) and HP. At GE, he held a number of global leadership roles. In his new position, Charhon will report to Nefkens.

These appointments are designed to drive profitable growth, service innovation and client satisfaction for the Services business.

Q3 FY12 non-GAAP outlook
HP is increasing its previously provided third quarter fiscal 2012 non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) outlook to approximately $1.00 per share, up from a previous range of $0.94 to $0.97.
Third quarter fiscal 2012 non-GAAP diluted EPS estimates exclude after-tax costs related primarily to the amortization and impairment of purchased intangible assets, goodwill impairment charges, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.

Q3FY12 GAAP outlook
Services goodwill impairment charge
HP expects to record a non-cash pre-tax charge for the impairment of goodwill within its Services segment of approximately $8 billion in the third quarter of its fiscal 2012.
The impairment review stems from the recent trading values of HP's stock, coupled with market conditions and business trends within the Services segment. Under accounting rules, when indicators of potential impairment are identified, companies are required to conduct a review of the carrying amounts of goodwill and other long-lived assets to determine if an impairment exists.

HP does not expect this estimated goodwill impairment charge to result in any future cash expenditures or otherwise affect the ongoing business or financial performance of its Services segment.

Restructuring program
HP also updated the amount of the pre-tax charge it expects to record in the third quarter of fiscal 2012 in relation to its restructuring program announced on May 23, 2012. The change is primarily driven by a higher than anticipated acceptance rate under its early retirement program and faster than expected implementation of the workforce reduction program. Accordingly, HP now expects to record a pre-tax charge of approximately $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion, an increase from its previous estimate of approximately $1 billion, in its third quarter of fiscal 2012 that will be included in its GAAP financial results.

GAAP outlook
Given the expected impairment charge associated with the Services segment and the expected increased charge associated with the restructuring program, HP now expects third quarter fiscal 2012 GAAP EPS to be in the range of ($4.31) to ($4.49) including the GAAP tax impact on the impairment.

HP did not provide an updated outlook for the full year fiscal 2012.

About HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world's largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.
To supplement HP's historical and forecasted financial results presented on a GAAP basis, HP provides non-GAAP diluted earnings per share. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share is defined to exclude the effects of any amortization or impairment of purchased intangible assets, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges recorded during the relevant period. In addition, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share are adjusted by the amount of additional taxes or tax benefit associated with each non-GAAP item. HP's management uses non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for purposes of evaluating and forecasting HP's financial performance. HP believes that providing non-GAAP diluted earnings per share to investors in addition to the related GAAP measure provides investors with greater transparency to the information used by HP's management in its financial and operational decision-making and allows investors to see HP's results "through the eyes" of management. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share may have limitations as an analytical tool, and this additional non-GAAP financial information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for diluted earnings per share prepared in accordance with GAAP.

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