Turnover in Q4 was down 7.9% at $1.78bn (£1.32bn), and the business posted a $711m pre-tax loss.
For the full year, sales were just under $7.04bn (2021: $7.02bn). Adjusted operating profits fell by 19.2% to $375m, which the group said was mainly due to supply chain disruption, and the business filed a pre-tax loss of $475m.
The results were impacted by a goodwill impairment charge of $750m, described as “largely a reflection of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has had on our print business”.
However, Visentin noted that free cash flow was up $87m at $561m.
He commented: “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.”
During the year Xerox launched a number of new businesses: Xerox Financial Services, augmented reality service platform CareAR, and Innovation which commercialises developments made at its PARC facility, including IoT (Internet of Things), 3D printing and Cleantech.
CareAR consolidates the CareAR business acquired last year under a single holding company along with Xerox’s DocuShare content management system, the XMPie cross-media platform and the PARC Alto AI artificial intelligence engine. The aim is to deliver “high quality customer outcomes and service experiences for enterprises across multiple industries”.
“Our assumption entering the year was that in-office work would normalise following 2020 winter's wave of Covid-19 infections and the global rollout of effective vaccines. However, the Delta and Omicron variants of Covid-19 delayed companies' plans to return workers to the office, causing a reduction in expected post sale revenue and profits,” Visentin explained.
“In the second half of the year, we experienced an unprecedented level of supply chain disruption with conditions deteriorating throughout the final two quarters of the year. These disruptions resulted in revenue falling below expectations we laid out at the beginning of the year, with most of the shortfall comprised of high-margin, midrange devices and post-sale revenue.”
Xerox’s order backlog for equipment and IT hardware increased to nearly $350m, around two-and-a-half times higher than at the end of 2020.
“I am proud of the progress our team made this year, advancing initiatives that will set Xerox up for long-term growth in revenue and profits. We continue to streamline and optimise our operations and exceeded our target Project Own-It savings of $375m in 2021,” Visentin stated.
