HP saw its net earnings rise by 14 per cent to $2bn (£1.1bn) for the financial quarter ended 31st July 2008, with net revenue up by 10 per cent to $28bn (£15bn).

Sales in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region grew by just five per cent when adjusted for currency fluctuations in the third quarter, and virtually stalled in the Americas too, up by just three per cent.

There were marked contrasts in the strength of HP's individual business units. Notebook PC sales boosted revenue from the Personal Systems Group to $10.2bn (£5.5bn), though profit was just $587m (£316m) due to fierce downward price pressure in the notebook market.

Revenue for HP Services grew an impressive 14 per cent to $4.7bn (£2.5bn), delivering net earnings of $574m (£309m).

Despite strong sales growth, HP Software and Financial Services remain the smallest parts of HP's overall business, delivering revenue of $781m (£420m) and $680m (£366m) and earnings of $122m (£66m) and £51m (£27m) respectively within the quarter.

Both HP's Enterprise Storage and Servers division and Imaging and Printing Group stalled in the fourth quarter, showing single digit revenue growth and delivering earnings of $544m (£293m) and $1bn (£537m) respectively.