Achieved adjusted operating margin and free cash flow guidance in 2023; Guiding to another year of meaningful growth in adjusted operating income

Financial Summary

Q4 2023

• Revenue of $1.77 billion, down 9.1 percent year-over-year or down 10.6 percent in constant currency.
• GAAP net loss of $(58) million, or $(0.50) per share, down $179 million or $1.24 per share, year-over-year, respectively. This quarter includes an after-tax Restructuring and related costs, net charge of $78 million, or $0.62 per share, related to the recently announced workforce reduction.
• Adjusted net income of $56 million, or $0.43 per share, down $90 million or $0.46 per share, year-over-year, respectively.
• Adjusted operating margin of 5.4 percent, down 380 basis points year-over-year.
• Operating cash flow of $389 million, up $203 million year-over-year.
• Free cash flow of $379 million, up $211 million year-over-year.

FY 2023

• Revenue of $6.89 billion, down 3.1 percent year-over-year, or down 3.3 percent in constant currency.
• GAAP net income of $1 million, or $(0.09) per share, up $323 million or $2.06 per share, year-over-year, respectively. 2023 includes a Q4 after-tax Restructuring and related costs, net charge of $78 million, or $0.62 per share, related to the recently announced workforce reduction. 2022 includes an after-tax non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $395 million, or $2.54 per share.
• Adjusted net income of $287 million, or $1.82 per share, up $98 million or $0.70 per share, year-over-year, respectively.
• Adjusted operating margin of 5.6 percent, up 170 basis points year-over-year.
• Operating cash flow of $686 million, up $527 million year-over-year.
• Free cash flow of $649 million, up $547 million year-over-year.

Xerox Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: XRX) today announced its 2023 fourth-quarter and full-year results and guidance for 2024.

“Last year, steps we took to structurally simplify our business impacted revenue but led to 170 basis points of adjusted operating margin expansion and laid the foundation for successful execution of our Reinvention,” said Steve Bandrowczak, chief executive officer at Xerox. “As we enter 2024, we are focused on stabilizing and strengthening our core Print business, driving enterprise-wide efficiency and productivity gains through our new Global Business Services organization, and further capturing opportunities in Digital and IT Services. We expect balanced execution on these priorities, supported by our new operating model, will yield significant progress towards our three-year adjusted operating income improvement target of $300 million above 2023 levels."

2024 Guidance

• Revenue: decline of 3% to 5% in constant currency
• Adjusted operating margin: at least 7.5%
• Free cash flow: at least $600 million

The company expects stable Print demand, growth in Digital and IT Services and neutral macroeconomic conditions. The guided year-over-year decline in revenue is attributable to the following: around 200 basis points of headwind from prior-year backlog reduction and around 200 basis points from the deemphasis of certain non-strategic revenue, including lower sales of paper. Margin guidance implies adjusted operating income margin improvement of more than 190 basis points, and adjusted operating income improvement of more than $100 million, year-over-year.

The company reiterates its three-year target of $300 million of incremental adjusted operating income above 2023 levels and a return to double-digit adjusted operating income margin by 2026.

Non-GAAP Measures

This release refers to the following non-GAAP financial measures:

• Adjusted EPS, which excludes the Goodwill impairment charge as well as Restructuring and related costs, net, Amortization of intangible assets, non-service retirement-related costs, and other discrete adjustments from GAAP EPS, as applicable.
• Adjusted operating income and margin, which exclude the EPS adjustments noted above as well as the remainder of Other expenses, net from pre-tax (loss) income and margin.
• Constant currency (CC) revenue change, which excludes the effects of currency translation.
• Free cash flow, which is operating cash flow less capital expenditures.

Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section of this release for a discussion of these non-GAAP measures and their reconciliation to the reported GAAP measures.

Forward Looking Statements

This release and other written or oral statements made from time to time by management contain “forward looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, “will”, “should”, “targeting”, “projecting”, “driving” and similar expressions, as they relate to us, our performance and/or our technology, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management’s current beliefs, assumptions and expectations and are subject to a number of factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. Such factors include but are not limited to: Global macroeconomic conditions, including inflation, slower growth or recession, delays or disruptions in the global supply chain, higher interest rates, and wars and other conflicts, including the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine; our ability to succeed in a competitive environment, including by developing new products and service offerings and preserving our existing products and market share as well as repositioning our business in the face of customer preference, technological, and other change, such as evolving return-to-office and hybrid working trends; failure of our customers, vendors, and logistics partners to perform their contractual obligations to us; our ability to attract, train, and retain key personnel; execution risks around our Reinvention; the risk of breaches of our security systems due to cyber, malware, or other intentional attacks that could expose us to liability, litigation, regulatory action or damage our reputation; our ability to obtain adequate pricing for our products and services and to maintain and improve our cost structure; changes in economic and political conditions, trade protection measures, licensing requirements, and tax laws in the United States and in the foreign countries in which we do business; the risk that multi-year contracts with governmental entities could be terminated prior to the end of the contract term and that civil or criminal penalties and administrative sanctions could be imposed on us if we fail to comply with the terms of such contracts and applicable law; interest rates, cost of borrowing, and access to credit markets; risks related to our indebtedness; the imposition of new or incremental trade protection measures such as tariffs and import or export restrictions; funding requirements associated with our employee pension and retiree health benefit plans; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; the risk that our operations and products may not comply with applicable worldwide regulatory requirements, particularly environmental regulations and directives and anti-corruption laws; the outcome of litigation and regulatory proceedings to which we may be a party; laws, regulations, international agreements and other initiatives to limit greenhouse gas emissions or relating to climate change, as well as the physical effects of climate change; and other factors as set forth from time to time in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. The Company intends these forward-looking statements to speak only as of the date of this release and does not undertake to update or revise them as more information becomes available, except as required by law.

Note: To receive RSS news feeds, visit https://www.news.xerox.com. For open commentary, industry perspectives and views, visit http://www.linkedin.com/company/xerox, http://twitter.com/xerox, http://www.facebook.com/XeroxCorp, https://www.instagram.com/xerox/, http://www.youtube.com/XeroxCorp.

Xerox^®® is a trademark of Xerox in the United States and/or other countries.

Fourth Quarter 2023 Overview

2023 was a pivotal year for Xerox and marked the first full year of our Reinvention, a multi-year strategy to reposition our business for long-term, sustainable growth. We took structural and foundational actions to improve our core business and simplify operations, resulting in greater operational focus and a clear path for more transformative Reinvention actions this year and beyond. For the full year, the Company delivered growth in earnings and operating cash flows despite a modest decline in revenue, reflecting the successful implementation of a more flexible cost structure and rigorous operating discipline. Additional structural efficiencies enabled by our Reorganization are expected to drive further profit improvement in 2024.

Equipment sales of $458 million in the fourth quarter 2023 declined 17.3% in actual currency, or 18.3% in constant currency¹, as compared to the fourth quarter 2022. The prior year effect of backlog² reduction drove more than a 25-percentage point year-over-year decline. Total equipment revenue outpaced equipment installation activity, due to favorable product mix. Installations of High-End color equipment, which were less affected by prior year backlog² reductions, increased as compared to fourth quarter 2022, while Entry and Mid offerings declined. Declines in entry primarily reflect prior year reductions to backlog² and current year constraints. Post-sale revenue of $1.3 billion declined 5.8% in actual currency, or 7.5% in constant currency¹, as compared to fourth quarter 2022. The decline was primarily due to lower sales of non-strategic and lower margin paper and IT endpoint device placements, which we plan to reduce over time, as well as the exit of Russia, the termination of the Fuji Royalty and the absence of PARC revenue. Combined, these items contributed 500 basis points to the year over year decline in post-sale revenue.

The pre-tax (loss) of $(88) million for the fourth quarter 2023 decreased by $233 million as compared to pre-tax income of $145 million in the fourth quarter 2022, primarily due to lower revenue and gross profit as well as higher Restructuring and related costs, net and Other expenses, net. Adjusted¹ operating income decreased $82 million as compared to fourth quarter 2022 due to lower equipment and post sale revenue. Benefits from structural simplification efforts and pricing were partially offset by higher compensation expense and a lack of Fuji royalty income.

We expect a total Revenue decline of 3% to 5% in constant currency in 2024, which includes effects of prior year backlog² reductions and the exit or deemphasis of non-strategic businesses – all of which is unrelated to the performance of our core print and services businesses. Core business revenue is expected to be roughly flat year-over-year, reflecting stable Print demand, growth in Digital and IT Services and neutral macroeconomic conditions.

We expect 2024 pre-tax income and adjusted¹ operating income margins to improve in 2024 to approximately 5.1% and at least 7.5%, respectively. The increase in profit margins will primarily be driven by structural simplification actions enabled by our reorganization, including the effects of the workforce reduction decisions announced in January 2024.

Free cash flow¹ is expected to be at least $600 million in 2024 (includes $50 million for capital expenditures). Free cash flow¹ is expected to benefit from a reduction in our finance receivables balance. Improvements in cash flow from underlying operations are expected to be offset by restructuring payments, higher cash taxes and an increase in pension contributions.

Print and Other

Print and Other includes the design, development and sale of document management systems, solutions and services as well as associated technology offerings including IT and software products and services.

Detail by product group is shown below.

FITTLE

FITTLE represents a global financing solutions business, primarily enabling the sale of our equipment and services.

Revenue

Forward-Looking Statements

This release and other written or oral statements made from time to time by management contain “forward looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, “will”, “should”, “targeting”, “projecting”, “driving” and similar expressions, as they relate to us, our performance and/or our technology, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management’s current beliefs, assumptions and expectations and are subject to a number of factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. Such factors include but are not limited to: Global macroeconomic conditions, including inflation, slower growth or recession, delays or disruptions in the global supply chain, higher interest rates, and wars and other conflicts, including the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine; our ability to succeed in a competitive environment, including by developing new products and service offerings and preserving our existing products and market share as well as repositioning our business in the face of customer preference, technological, and other change, such as evolving return-to-office and hybrid working trends; failure of our customers, vendors, and logistics partners to perform their contractual obligations to us; our ability to attract, train, and retain key personnel; execution risks around our Reinvention; the risk of breaches of our security systems due to cyber, malware, or other intentional attacks that could expose us to liability, litigation, regulatory action or damage our reputation; our ability to obtain adequate pricing for our products and services and to maintain and improve our cost structure; changes in economic and political conditions, trade protection measures, licensing requirements, and tax laws in the United States and in the foreign countries in which we do business; the risk that multi-year contracts with governmental entities could be terminated prior to the end of the contract term and that civil or criminal penalties and administrative sanctions could be imposed on us if we fail to comply with the terms of such contracts and applicable law; interest rates, cost of borrowing, and access to credit markets; risks related to our indebtedness; the imposition of new or incremental trade protection measures such as tariffs and import or export restrictions; funding requirements associated with our employee pension and retiree health benefit plans; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; the risk that our operations and products may not comply with applicable worldwide regulatory requirements, particularly environmental regulations and directives and anti-corruption laws; the outcome of litigation and regulatory proceedings to which we may be a party; laws, regulations, international agreements and other initiatives to limit greenhouse gas emissions or relating to climate change, as well as the physical effects of climate change; and other factors as set forth from time to time in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. The Company intends these forward-looking statements to speak only as of the date of this release and does not undertake to update or revise them as more information becomes available, except as required by law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We have reported our financial results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). In addition, we have discussed our financial results using the non-GAAP measures described below. We believe these non-GAAP measures allow investors to better understand the trends in our business and to better understand and compare our results. Management regularly uses our supplemental non-GAAP financial measures internally to understand, manage and evaluate our business and make operating decisions. These non-GAAP measures are among the primary factors management uses in planning for and forecasting future periods. Compensation of our executives is based in part on the performance of our business based on these non-GAAP measures. Accordingly, we believe it is necessary to adjust several reported amounts, determined in accordance with GAAP, to exclude the effects of certain items as well as their related income tax effects.

However, these non-GAAP financial measures should be viewed in addition to, and not as a substitute for, the Company’s reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP. Our non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures and should be read only in conjunction with our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP are set forth below, as well as in the fourth quarter 2023 presentation slides available at www.xerox.com/investor.

Adjusted Earnings Measures

• Adjusted Net Income and Earnings per share (EPS)
• Adjusted Effective Tax Rate

The above measures were adjusted for the following items:

Restructuring and related costs, net: Restructuring and related costs, net include restructuring and asset impairment charges as well as costs associated with our transformation programs beyond those normally included in restructuring and asset impairment charges. Restructuring consists of costs primarily related to severance and benefits paid to employees pursuant to formal restructuring and workforce reduction plans. Asset impairment includes costs incurred for those assets sold, abandoned or made obsolete as a result of our restructuring actions, exiting from a business or other strategic business changes. Additional costs for our transformation programs are primarily related to the implementation of strategic actions and initiatives and include third-party professional service costs as well as one-time incremental costs. All of these costs can vary significantly in terms of amount and frequency based on the nature of the actions as well as the changing needs of the business. Accordingly, due to that significant variability, we will exclude these charges since we do not believe they provide meaningful insight into our current or past operating performance nor do we believe they are reflective of our expected future operating expenses as such charges are expected to yield future benefits and savings with respect to our operational performance.

Amortization of intangible assets: The amortization of intangible assets is driven by our acquisition activity which can vary in size, nature and timing as compared to other companies within our industry and from period to period. The use of intangible assets contributed to our revenues earned during the periods presented and will contribute to our future period revenues as well. Amortization of intangible assets will recur in future periods.

Non-service retirement-related costs: Our defined benefit pension and retiree health costs include several elements impacted by changes in plan assets and obligations that are primarily driven by changes in the debt and equity markets as well as those that are predominantly legacy in nature and related to employees who are no longer providing current service to the Company (e.g. retirees and ex-employees). These elements include (i) interest cost, (ii) expected return on plan assets, (iii) amortization of prior plan amendments, (iv) amortized actuarial gains/losses and (v) the impacts of any plan settlements/curtailments. Accordingly, we consider these elements of our periodic retirement plan costs to be outside the operational performance of the business or legacy costs and not necessarily indicative of current or future cash flow requirements. This approach is consistent with the classification of these costs as non-operating in Other expenses, net. Adjusted earnings will continue to include the service cost elements of our retirement costs, which is related to current employee service as well as the cost of our defined contribution plans.

Discrete, unusual or infrequent items: We exclude these item(s), when applicable, given their discrete, unusual or infrequent nature and their impact on the comparability of our results for the period to prior periods and future expected trends:

• Goodwill impairment
• PARC donation
• Contract termination costs - product supply
• Accelerated share vesting - stock compensation expense associated with the accelerated vesting of all outstanding equity awards, according to the terms of the award agreement, in connection with the passing of Xerox Holdings Corporation's former CEO.
• Loss on early extinguishment of debt
• Tax Indemnification - Conduent

Adjusted Operating Income and Margin

We calculate and utilize adjusted operating income and margin measures by adjusting our reported pre-tax (loss) income and margin amounts. In addition to the costs and expenses noted as adjustments for our adjusted earnings measures, adjusted operating income and margin also exclude the remaining amounts included in Other expenses, net, which are primarily non-financing interest expense and certain other non-operating costs and expenses. We exclude these amounts in order to evaluate our current and past operating performance and to better understand the expected future trends in our business.

Constant Currency (CC)

To better understand trends in our business, we believe that it is helpful to adjust revenue to exclude the impact of changes in the translation of foreign currencies into U.S. dollars. We refer to this adjusted revenue as “constant currency.” This impact is calculated by translating current period activity in local currency using the comparable prior year period's currency translation rate. This impact is calculated for all countries where the functional currency is not the U.S. dollar. Management believes the constant currency measure provides investors an additional perspective on revenue trends. Currency impact can be determined as the difference between actual growth rates and constant currency growth rates.

Free Cash Flow

To better understand trends in our business, we believe that it is helpful to adjust operating cash flows by subtracting amounts related to capital expenditures. Management believes this measure gives investors an additional perspective on cash flow from operating activities in excess of amounts required for reinvestment. It provides a measure of our ability to fund acquisitions, dividends and share repurchase.

Adjusted Net Income and EPS reconciliation

Adjusted Effective Tax Rate reconciliation