Xerox Shares Up In Spite of Loss

Even though it posted a loss for the quarter, shares of Xerox were riding high on the market swell generated by strong Google earnings and a report on Friday from Citicorp that showed a $5.1 billion loss but brought Wall Street no surprises.

"With the industry's broadest portfolio of document technology, our growth initiatives are aimed at increasing distribution, bringing the quality of the Xerox brand to more businesses of any size," said CEO Anne Mulcahey in a statement.

Xerox posted a lost of 27 cents per share for the first quarter of 2008 because of a 54-cent per share hit the company took to settle pending securities litigation. Without that charge, shares would have gained 27 cents, up from 24 cents per share in last year's first quarter.

Revenue grew 13 percent over last year to $4.3 billion. Xerox's sales of color printing equipment and multi-function printers grew in the quarter. Revenue from color products was up 13 percent, making up 40 percent of the Norwalk, Conn.-based company's revenue. Color multifunction sales were up 40 percent and mono MFP sales were up 35 percent, the company said.

This quarter's results include revenues generated from Xerox's acquisition of Global Imaging Systems in May of last year, and Xerox continues to acquire dealers to grow its business, which may put it in conflict with some of its reseller partners.

Xerox expects earnings in the range of 23 to 25 cents per share in the second quarter, including a restructuring charge of 5 cents per share. Shares of Xerox were trading at $14.89, up 2.7 percent in early afternoon trading on Friday.