SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ― Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday reported that its quarterly revenue rose for the first time in three years, nudged by improved computer sales everywhere except Russia and China.

Net revenue for the quarter that ended July 31 was $27.6 billion, a 1 percent improvement from the same period last year when the California computer maker took in $27.2 billion.

Meanwhile, HP profit in the recently ended quarter ebbed to $985 million compared to $1.39 billion in the same period a year earlier, due in part to cost savings from a massive effort by chief executive Meg Whitman to find new momentum as lifestyles shift from personal computers to smartphones and tablets.

“Overall, I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve made,” Whitman said in the earnings release.

“When I look at the way the business is performing, the pipeline of innovation and the daily feedback that I receive from our customers and partners, my confidence in the turnaround grows stronger.”

HP shares slipped a fraction of a percent to $34.86 in after-market trading that followed release of the earnings figures.

Whitman said during an earnings call with analysts that the financial quarter marked an “important milestone” in the effort to turn HP around, and that she was encouraged by progress.

Sales of home and business computers were bright spots in the quarter despite pressure on the overall personal computer market due to competition from smartphones and tablets.