Xerox Q4 Profit Declines, Adj. Earnings Meet Estimates; Boosts Dividend

(RTTNews) - Document technology and business process services provider Xerox Corp. (XRX) Friday reported a decline in fourth-quarter profit, reflecting lower revenues as well as amortization charges. Adjusted earnings matched analysts' expectations, while revenues missed view.

The company issued earnings per share outlook for first quarter and backed its full-year 2014 view. Xerox's board also increased the company's quarterly cash dividend by 8.7 percent.

For the fourth quarter, net income attributable to company decreased to $306 million or $0.24 per share from $335 million or $0.26 per share in the previous year. Earnings per share from continuing operations were $0.25, compared to $0.26 per share a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, excluding $0.04 related to amortization of intangibles, earnings from continuing operations were or $0.29 per share for the recent quarter, while the firm posted $0.30 last year.

On average, 11 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.29 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Total revenues for the quarter declined 3 percent to $5.57 billion from $5.76 billion reported last year. Analysts expected revenue of $5.64 billion for the quarter. Revenues were down 4 percent at constant currency.

Revenue from services business, which represented 55 percent of total revenue, was $3 billion, flat with last year, and down 1 percent at constant currency. Revenue from document technology business, which represented 42 percent of total revenue, was $2.4 billion, a decline of 6 percent from a year earlier.

Fourth-quarter operating margin decreased 1.3 points to 9.3 percent.

Ursula Burns, chairman and chief executive officer said, "We managed anticipated headwinds while continuing to build our business by investing in growth markets...Looking ahead, we're focused on evolving our portfolio and implementing our cost initiatives to improve both revenue and margins."

Looking ahead to the first-quarter, Xerox expects GAAP earnings of $0.19 to $0.21 per share and adjusted earnings per share of $0.23 to $0.25 per share. Analysts expect the company to report first-quarter earnings per share of $0.24.

The company reiterated its full-year 2014 guidance of GAAP earnings per share in the range of $0.93 to $0.99, and adjusted earnings per share of $1.10 to $1.16. Analysts expect the firm to report earnings per share of $1.14 for 2014.

Xerox's board increased the company's quarterly cash dividend by 8.7 percent to 6.25 cents per share, beginning with the dividend payable on April 30, 2014.

XRX closed Thursday's regular trading at $11.76 on the NYSE. In the pre-market activity on Friday, the shares are down 2.20 percent.