Meg describes HP’s turnaround progress at the 2013 Annual Stockholder Meeting
CEO Meg Whitman and other members of the HP Board of Directors and executive team met with a large gathering of HP stockholders on March 20 at the company’s 2013 Annual Stockholder Meeting. The event took place at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, and was webcast live around the world on HP.com.
Rob Binns, vice president of Investor Relations, said the atmosphere of the meeting was full of “anticipation and interest” as those attending focused on issues that would impact HP’s future, and wanted to know more about the progress HP is making in its dramatic turnaround.
Stockholders had an opportunity to vote on eight different proposals or “items of business.” One of the most widely publicized proposals was related to the re-election of HP’s board members. All 11 of the nominees received the requisite majority vote to remain on the board.
In addition, HP confirmed at the meeting that it has formed a special committee, led by three directors, to investigate a number of recent lawsuits filed against HP; in particular, those focused on HP’s acquisition of Autonomy in 2011, and the impairment charges that the company took in 2012. The committee will take a close look at the lawsuits, and make recommendations to the Board.
Whitman delivered an energetic and optimistic message to HP stockholders as she described “the progress we are making in turning around one of the great icons and franchises in the technology industry.”
Looking back on her first 18 months as HP’s CEO, she said, “I have come to love this company, its people, its customers, its history and everything that Hewlett-Packard stands for. I have also come to appreciate the remarkable strengths that make HP great.”
Describing those strengths in greater detail, Whitman talked about HP’s “long legacy of great partner and customer relationships,” and its “unparalleled scale and distribution.”
She said that “innovation is alive and well at Hewlett-Packard,” and noted that HP was awarded more than 1,300 patents last year, the most of any company in Silicon Valley, and number 15 worldwide.
She also noted that HP’s respected brand is a tremendous asset, along with the company’s “talented, committed and resilient employees.”
Talking about HP’s turnaround—a five-year journey—Whitman said that the company made great progress in 2012. “We took stock of our situation. We took action to bring our costs in line with our revenue trajectory of our business…[and began] to build the foundation that we needed.”
As the second year of the turnaround, 2013 is a “fix-and-rebuild year,” said Whitman. “We are focused on great products, services and software. We are focused on a consistent, customer-focused strategy, [along with] investment in R&D and investment in our own internal systems to make it easier to do business with HP and, frankly, easier to work at Hewlett-Packard if you’re an employee.”
We expect 2014 to be a year of expansion, with a return to industry-leading growth, she said, and we expect that to continue into 2015.
“We are not done,” she added. “We have a long way to go…We are living in a period of enormous change. There are incredibly powerful consumer and industry shifts that are changing the way that technology is consumed, the way it’s delivered and the way it’s paid for…driven by cloud, mobility and big data.”
HP will succeed because it is uniquely positioned to deliver this “new style of IT,” she said.
Results are in following the stockholder vote
CEO Meg Whitman and other members of the HP Board of Directors and executive team met with a large gathering of HP stockholders on March 20 at the company’s 2013 Annual Stockholder Meeting. The event took place at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, and was webcast live around the world on HP.com.
Rob Binns, vice president of Investor Relations, said the atmosphere of the meeting was full of “anticipation and interest” as those attending focused on issues that would impact HP’s future, and wanted to know more about the progress HP is making in its dramatic turnaround.
Stockholders had an opportunity to vote on eight different proposals or “items of business.” One of the most widely publicized proposals was related to the re-election of HP’s board members. All 11 of the nominees received the requisite majority vote to remain on the board.
In addition, HP confirmed at the meeting that it has formed a special committee, led by three directors, to investigate a number of recent lawsuits filed against HP; in particular, those focused on HP’s acquisition of Autonomy in 2011, and the impairment charges that the company took in 2012. The committee will take a close look at the lawsuits, and make recommendations to the Board.
Whitman delivered an energetic and optimistic message
Whitman delivered an energetic and optimistic message to HP stockholders as she described “the progress we are making in turning around one of the great icons and franchises in the technology industry.”
Looking back on her first 18 months as HP’s CEO, she said, “I have come to love this company, its people, its customers, its history and everything that Hewlett-Packard stands for. I have also come to appreciate the remarkable strengths that make HP great.”
Describing those strengths in greater detail, Whitman talked about HP’s “long legacy of great partner and customer relationships,” and its “unparalleled scale and distribution.”
She said that “innovation is alive and well at Hewlett-Packard,” and noted that HP was awarded more than 1,300 patents last year, the most of any company in Silicon Valley, and number 15 worldwide.
She also noted that HP’s respected brand is a tremendous asset, along with the company’s “talented, committed and resilient employees.”
Progress in “The Journey”
Talking about HP’s turnaround—a five-year journey—Whitman said that the company made great progress in 2012. “We took stock of our situation. We took action to bring our costs in line with our revenue trajectory of our business…[and began] to build the foundation that we needed.”
As the second year of the turnaround, 2013 is a “fix-and-rebuild year,” said Whitman. “We are focused on great products, services and software. We are focused on a consistent, customer-focused strategy, [along with] investment in R&D and investment in our own internal systems to make it easier to do business with HP and, frankly, easier to work at Hewlett-Packard if you’re an employee.”
We expect 2014 to be a year of expansion, with a return to industry-leading growth, she said, and we expect that to continue into 2015.
“We are not done,” she added. “We have a long way to go…We are living in a period of enormous change. There are incredibly powerful consumer and industry shifts that are changing the way that technology is consumed, the way it’s delivered and the way it’s paid for…driven by cloud, mobility and big data.”
HP will succeed because it is uniquely positioned to deliver this “new style of IT,” she said.
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