Tech

HPE chief Meg Whitman expects the dollar to remain strong for 'a couple of years, at least'

Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett-Packard
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman told CNBC on Wednesday she expects the dollar, which has soared since Donald Trump's presidential victory, to remain strong for the foreseeable future.

"A strong dollar creates currency headwinds for us as it has over much of the last three or four years," said Whitman, after HPE on Tuesday reported a slight estimate beat with its quarterly earnings. But revenue and outlook missed.

The dollar index hovered near last week's 13 ½-year high on Wednesday morning, after surging on expectations that U.S. interest rates would rise further than had earlier been anticipated due to prospects for increased fiscal stimulus under Trump's administration.

"When the dollar is strong our goods are more expensive overseas," Whitman told Squawk on the Street."

"We've got to manage that. It's part of our new reality," she said. "My view is [the dollar] is going to be strong for a couple of years, at least."

Despite supporting Hillary Clinton for president, Whitman, a Republican, also told CNBC she's going to give Trump "the benefit for the doubt," saying some of his policy proposals such as lowering corporate taxes would be good for HPE and corporate America overall.

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Late Tuesday, HPE reported adjusted fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 17 percent to 61 cents per share on revenue of $12.48 billion, which was a 7 percent drop from the year-ago period.

In September, HPE said it planned to spin off its noncore software assets and merge them with Britain's Micro Focus International in an $8.8 billion transaction.

In another company-slimming deal, HPE in May announced an $8.5 billion spinoff of its enterprise services unit that would merge it with Computer Sciences.

So far this year, shares of HPE are up more than 50 percent.

HP Inc., the other spinoff of the former Hewlett-Packard, reported late Tuesday adjusted earnings gained 20 percent to 36 cents per share, matching forecasts. Revenue rose 2 percent to $12.5 billion, beating estimates.

Shares of HP are up about 30 percent in 2016.

Last year, the old Hewlett-Packard split into two publicly traded companies, with Hewlett Packard Enterprise focusing on business technology products and HP Inc. concentrating on personal computers and printers.