Xerox records a loss for the year, Q4 revenues down 7.9% and hardware sales down 24.7%, but shareholders receive $1 billion (€0.88 billion).
The Xerox fourth quarter and full year results recorded full year revenues of $7.038 billion (€6.246 billion) a 0.2% increase year-on-year (YoY).
Fourth quarter results show revenues of $1.777 billion (€1.579 billion), depressed by 7.9% year-on-year, and resulting in a pre-tax loss of $675 million (€599 million) for the reporting period. Pre-tax loss for the full year was $475 million (€421 million).
In the reporting period the company said it had delivered $375 million (€333 million) of targeted 2021 gross cost savings through Project Own It, or $1.8 billion (€1.6 billion) since its inception. In the period Xerox returned more than $1 billion (€0.88 billion) to shareholders, and achieved close to double FY 2021 free cash flow. Reporting on the progress Xerox Financial Services (XFS), its global leasing solutions business serving technology, office equipment and adjacent markets, Xerox said it added 136 independent office equipment dealers during the year.
Equipment sales revenue were down 24.7%, at $384 million (€340 million) and post sale revenue was down 1.9%. Looking at the fourth quarter installs, Entry level A4 devices were down YoY 10% in the colour segment but up 24% in the black and white segment. The mid-range device installs were down YoY 22% in the colour segment and 28% in the black and white segment.
“Our team’s focus and dedication drove improved results in 2021 despite ongoing challenges caused by the pandemic and global supply chain disruptions,” said Xerox Vice Chairman and CEO John Visentin. “Our ability to increase free cash flow, while investing for sustainable, long-term growth and improving our operations, highlights the quality of our team and strategy. We stood up Xerox Financial Services, CareAR and Innovation (PARC), while laying the foundation for growth in print, digital solutions and IT services. We look forward to sharing more detail about our long-term plans and strategies for monetising our investments in growth at our Investor Day in February.”
Xerox said it expects supply chain conditions to remain challenging for the first half of the year and the company believes the Omicron variant will continue to delay workers returning to work in 2022.
