Xerox has issued another profit warning, its seventh in little over a year. Shares in the company dropped over 15% to a new 52-week low.


Chief executive Paul Allaire said the group expected to post a loss of 15 to 20 cents per share when its results are released on 24 October. "Although we expected third quarter results to be weak, this is clearly considerably worse than we expected."


Allaire attributed Xeroxs continued struggles to lower than expected revenue from the US and European markets, strong competition, an unfavourable exchange rate and the failure to improve sales of its high-end products.


However, he added: "We are addressing very dramatic changes in the way we run Xerox."


Market analysts had predicted profits of between seven to 17 cents per share.


Story by John Davies