Hewlett Packard Enterprise on Wednesday reported a quarterly loss, compared to a profit a year earlier, hurt by tax valuation allowances related to the recent sale of a business unit, as well as intense competition and a strong dollar.

California-based HPE – which was created from the breakup of Hewlett-Packard in 2015 – mainly sells servers, networking and data storage equipment to companies. The company employs some 2,000 people at a site in Leixlip in Co Kildare.

HPE reported a net loss of $612 million (€545 million), or 37 cents per share in the second quarter ended April 30th, compared to a profit of $320 million, or 18 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell nearly 13 per cent to $7.45 billion, largely reflecting the sale of its consulting and outsourcing services business.

– (Reuters)