HP's first-quarter revenue fell less than expected

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett Packard Co's revenue fell less than Wall Street expected in the first quarter, after the computing giant managed to grow sales at its two largest businesses despite rapidly slackening PC demand.

HP, which is in the midst of a multi-year turnaround effort intended to revive growth, posted revenue of $28.2 billion in the fiscal first quarter, down just slightly from $28.4 billion a year earlier and beating expectations for about $27.2 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman, who took the helm of the world's largest PC maker more than a year ago, is trying to wean the Silicon Valley company off sales of personal computers and focus on sales of computing equipment and networking gear to enterprises.

She has said she expects revenue to stabilize in 2014, with some areas of growth for the company.

In the first quarter, revenue from personal systems, which includes PCs, rose 4 percent, while sales from its enterprise group edged 1 percent higher.

Shares of the company gained 1.3 percent to $30.59 initially in extended trade, from a close of $30.19 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Edwin Chan; Editing by Bernard Orr)