Xerox, the world's number one photocopier maker, is expected to announce major restructuring and asset sales to bring its ailing finances back to health when it releases earnings today.
The third-quarter earnings announcement will be closely watched on Wall Street as Xerox's woes have deepened and in the Republic where the company employs 2,600 people in Dundalk and Dublin.
"Xerox needs to generate billions of dollars in asset sales to stabilise its financial structure . . . to survive," Paine Webber analyst Mr Benjamin Reitzes said in a research report.
The company has come up against: weaker-than-expected sales in North America and Europe; a Securities and Exchange Commission probe into accounting issues at its Mexican business; and major changes at the top.
Sources said last week Xerox was in talks to sell its financing unit to GE Capital in a deal that could shed about $11 billion (€13.15 billion) in debt. Japanese newspaper reports said yesterday that Fuji Photo Film would start talks with Xerox to buy the US firm's 50 per cent stake in Fuji Xerox, a joint venture between the two. Fuji Photo denied the report.
