Xerox first-quarter profit beats view, warns on second-quarter

Xerox Corp on Tuesday reported first-quarter earnings that beat expectations but said second-quarter profit would miss estimates as it restructures to become a broader technology company.

Adjusted earnings were 27 cents per share, compared with the average analyst estimate of 24 cents. Revenue fell 3 percent to $5.4 billion, below analyst expectations of $5.5 billion.

Xerox said earnings were higher than expected due to a benefit of 2 cents after reducing its reserve for recent litigation. It did not elaborate.

For the second quarter, Xerox, which has its roots in copiers and printers and now focuses on services like managing toll systems and healthcare programs, forecast earnings, excluding items, in the range of 23 cents to 25 cents per share. Wall Street is looking for 26 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Xerox, which kicked off a restructuring in the last quarter of 2012 to focus on its services business, plans to quicken the pace of the plan and included 2 cents in restructuring charges in its second-quarter outlook.

It said it was on track to reach its full-year target of 2013 adjusted EPS of $1.09 to $1.15 and to generate operating cash flow of $2.1 billion to $2.4 billion.

(Reporting by Nicola Leske; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)