Hewlett-Packard Co.'s profit jumped 14 per cent in the latest quarter, helped by cost-cutting and better results from its technology services division.

Those factors helped offset the fact that four of HP's major divisions - personal computers, servers, software and printers - each reported big revenue declines from last year. HP's overall revenue fell 8 per cent.

HP's results are a yardstick for measuring the health of overall technology spending. And the latest numbers reinforce trends that other companies have reported: Consumers and China are showing stronger demand, while businesses remain hesitant.

Other tech heavyweights such as International Business Machines Corp. , Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. have reported better conditions in some of their businesses.

In the latest quarter, HP's net income rose to $2.4-billion (U.S.), or 99 cents per share, while revenue fell to $30.7-billion.