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Xerox (XRX) Remains Focused on Business Split by 2016

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Ursula Burns, the chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation (XRX - Free Report) , recently briefed investors at a shareholders' meeting about the progress made on the company's  plan to separate into two public companies. At the same time, Xerox is focused on its strategic transformation program, which aims to deliver $2.4 billion in cumulative savings over a span of three years, including savings from ongoing and incremental productivity initiatives.

Despite a challenging market environment, the company was able to fulfill many of its goals, as well as return a significant amount of capital to its shareholders in 2015. The company continued to work on streamlining its business last year by selling its Information Technology Outsourcing unit and restructuring its government healthcare business. Additionally, under the Document Technology segment, Xerox introduced nine new products that have been successful in reconfirming its position as the leader in market innovation.

For 2015, the company reported revenues of $18 billion and returned $1.6 billion to its shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. Xerox also declared that it would increase its annual dividend by 11% in 2016.

In 2015, the company conducted a review of structural options for its portfolio and capital allocation. On the basis of this review, the company decided on splitting into two independent, publicly traded entities. While one would comprise Document Technology and Document Outsourcing businesses, the other would comprise its Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) business. Both these entities would likely feature among the Fortune 500 companies and will be leaders in their respective markets. With a strategic focus on various markets, Xerox expects to capitalize on the unique strengths of its Document Technology and BPO businesses and capture the value-creation opportunities post split-off.

In the past few months, the company has made significant progress in building its operational and financial foundation for both the businesses. The company expects to file its initial Form 10 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission this July, while it is looking forward to complete the entire separation process by the end of the year.

In Apr 2016, the company’s management announced that the separation will be planned as a tax-free spinoff of the BPO business to the current shareholders of the company. Alongside, the company’s board of directors declared that following the separation, Burns would serve as the Chairman of the new Document Technology entity.

During a separate voting session, Xerox shareholders approved PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company’s registered public accounting firm for 2016.

The company additionally declared a quarterly cash dividend of 7.75 cents per share, payable on Jul 29, 2016, to shareholders of record on Jun 30, 2016.

Headquartered in Norwalk, CT, Xerox has its business spread worldwide. It is a global corporation that sells business services and document technology products to businesses and governments of all sizes.

Xerox carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks worth a look include PFSweb Inc. , PRGX Global, Inc. and Viad Corp (VVI - Free Report) . All three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

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