HP's CFO Plans to Retire in Early 2019 -- WSJ

By Maria Armental 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (May 30, 2018).

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 guidance 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 [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 30, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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