The computer company, Hewlett-Packard, has announced a 15 per cent increase in net revenue for the third quarter of the fiscal year which ended on July 31st. Net earnings for the quarter were $617 million (£423.75 million) compared with $425 million for the same period last year. The company plans to increase its number of employees in Ireland from 1,000 to 3,000 by 2001.

Mr Brian Keenan, managing director, Hewlett-Packard Sales, said the Irish results showed a 32 per cent increase, ahead of the corporate trend. "While all businesses show healthy growth, Ireland has shown strongest growth in PCs, servers and computer systems," he said.