HP says acquired company lied about finances
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In this Aug 21, 2012 photo, the Hewlett-Packard Co logo is seen outside the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, CA. HP said Autonomy Corporation PLC, a British company it bought for US$10 million (S$12.5 billion) last year, lied about its finances, resulting in a massive write-down of the value of the business. HP’s net loss for the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Oct 31, amounted to US$6.85 billion, or US$3.49 per share. -- PHOTO: AP
NEW YORK (AP) - Hewlett-Packard (HP) said on Tuesday that a British company it bought for US$10 billion (S$12.25 billion) last year lied about its finances, resulting in a massive write-down of the value of the business.
HP is avoiding calling it a fraud, but it said there were "serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations at Autonomy Corporation PLC."
HP is taking an $8.8 billion charge in its latest quarter to align the accounting value of Autonomy with its real value. It said most of that charge was due to the fictional bookkeeping at Autonomy.
The revelation is another blow for HP, which is struggling to reinvent itself as PC sales shrink.
