XEROX’S 1ST Q. PROFITS FALL

[Anonymous]

Xerox Profit Falls in First Quarter

 

Xerox Corp.,which makes copiers, printers, scanners and fax machines, on
Thursday said first-quarter earnings fell 13 percent, reflecting last year’s
gain on the sale of its ContentGuard business, and indicated second-quarter
profit will be in line with estimates.

 

Earnings after preferred dividend payments fell to $196 million, or 20
cents a share, for the January-March period from $224 million, or 25 cents a
share, last year. That reflects preferred dividends of $14 million in the latest
period and $24 million in the year-ago. Excluding the gain from the ContentGuard

sale, earnings from continuing operations lsat year were $165 million, or 17
cents a share.

 

Revenue fell 1 percent to $3.77 billion from $3.83 billion.

 

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected Xerox to earn 19 cents a
share on sales of $3.86 billion.

 

“Our profit performance in the first quarter met the high range of our
expectations through increased gross margins and operational improvements that
help ensure Xerox is cost-competitive in every area of our business,” said Anne
M. Mulcahy, Xerox chairman and chief executive, in a statement.

 

Xerox said first-quarter color revenue rose 15 percent, while equipment
sales were flat. Revenue growth continued to be hurt by post-sale revenue
declines from the company’s older light-lens technology. Weak performance in
Brazil also impacted post-sale and total revenue in the first quarter, although
trends are improving in this operation, Xerox said.

 

First-quarter gross margins were up nearly 1 percent to 40.7 percent.

 

Xerox expects second-quarter earnings of 21 cents to 24 cents a share, in
line with analysts’ estimates for earnings of 23 cents.

 

Shares of Xerox fell 4 cents to $13.68 in morning trading on the New York
Stock Exchange. The stock has traded between $12.55 and $17.24 over the past
year

[Author]

April 22, 2005 at 11:19 AM