Xerox revenue falls, earnings increase

Xerox Corporation has seen its revenue for 2019 fall by 6.7 per cent, with another 4 per cent drop flagged for the coming year, but it continues with its hostile bid for HP unabated.

John Visentin, CEO of Xerox said, “We are well-positioned to lead the way for long-overdue industry consolidation.”

The big red achieved revenues of US$9bn in 2019, compared with US$9.66bn the previous year. However, earnings per share (EPS) rose by 60 per cent to US$2.78, up by US$1.62. Its operating margin was up by 180 basis points to 13.1 per cent, its cashflow was up by US$162m to US$1.24bn.

Xerox reported it made gross savings of US$640m under Project Own It, Xerox’s enterprise-wide initiative to simplify operations, drive continuous improvement and free up capital to reinvest in the business.

On the production print side the company said it continues to invest in several industry firsts within Xerox’s core technology business, such as the Iridesse Production Press, Baltoro HF Inkjet Press – which has not been made available in ANZ – and Adaptive CMYK Plus Technology.

Analysts are questioning whether the declining revenue will steer HP shareholders away from the current US$22-per-share hostile bid for HP, with some saying Xerox will need to increase its bid to the $26 mark to woo the shareholders to its side.