By Scott Morrison Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

SAN FRANCISCO (DOW JONES)--Hewlett-Packard Co.'s (HPQ) investors and customers have been "behind us 100%" in the wake of the surprising departure of former Chief Executive Mark Hurd, the technology giant's chief financial officer and interim CEO said Thursday.

Speaking on a conference call with reporters after releasing fiscal third-quarter results, Cathie Lesjak reiterated that the company's strategy wouldn't change in the wake of Hurd's departure.

"When you have a winning strategy, I don't see the motivation to change it. And that is exactly what we have here," she said.

Asked how Hurd left the company, Lesjak, who agreed to serve as interim CEO but has ruled herself out as a permanent replacement, said he left H-P with a very strong team of managers and 300,000 committed employees.

H-P shocked Wall Street earlier this month by announcing Hurd's resignation after the board uncovered business-conduct violations related to his reported relationship with marketing contractor Jodie Fisher.

The board said Hurd submitted inaccurate expense reports that were meant to conceal what the company said was a "close personal relationship" with Fisher.

But the circumstances surrounding his Aug. 6 departure, and the manner in which H-P has handled the matter, have prompted intense speculation over whether the board acted too rashly given Hurd's success in turning around H-P.

Hurd was highly regarded on Wall Street for introducing a variety of cost-savings initiatives, modernizing H-P's technology, strengthening its executive bench, expanding its sales force, bolstering its product portfolio and demanding operational discipline during his five-year tenure.

Shares in H-P, which have tumbled 12% since Hurd's resignation, closed down 1.5% Thursday at $40.76 and further slid 0.8% to $40.44 in after-hours trading.

The backlash against H-P includes a shareholder suit alleging the board violated its corporate-governance guidelines by failing to inform shareholders of the investigation. It also attacks details of Hurd's severance package, which has been rumored to be worth as much as $40 million.

The company said Wednesday it hired executive-search firm Spencer Stuart to handle the hunt for a new chief executive. The board has said it would consider both internal and external candidates.

Lesjak also told reporters that the company saw "better than normal seasonality" in its business during the quarter, with balanced, broad-based growth across regions.

Asked if H-P saw signs of economic uncertainty noted by other tech firms, she replied that "nothing that really stood out within the quarter that we would call out."

H-P said earlier its fiscal third-quarter profit climbed 6.1% on higher world-wide sales and profit growth in the company's core personal-computer business, while shipments grew.