HP chief executive: Autonomy 'wilfully inflated' value

The computer giant Hewlett-Packard says its made a loss of more than $5bn (£3bn) on the value of a British company which it bought last year following what it calls "serious accounting improprieties".

The computer maker has alleged that Autonomy inflated its value before HP took over the UK software group last year.

HP took a $5bn (£3.1bn) charge in its latest quarterly accounts as a result of Autonomy being worth less than it thought.

The former management team of Autonomy "flatly rejected" the allegations.

Three former senior members of staff, including former chief executive Mike Lynch, said they were "shocked" to see the statement.

But HP chief executive Meg Whitman told BBC News that the irregularities had been brought to their attention by a senior Autonomy executive.