New York, May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Xerox Corp., the world's biggest copier maker, told analysts it expects second-quarter revenue to rise by about 5 percent, after first-quarter sales didn't rise, Chief Financial Officer Barry Romeril said.
The company spoke with analysts and investors in a meeting today, Romeril said in an interview. Xerox also repeated its forecast for ''mid to high teens'' annual per-share earnings growth in 1999 and beyond, Romeril said.
First-quarter revenue slumped after Xerox realigned into four operating groups in January. The move disrupted its sales force more than expected. Xerox told analysts today that it's fixed most of the problems, analysts said. ''Whenever there's evolution or transition there's risk,'' said Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter analyst Rebecca Runkle, who has an ''outperform'' rating on the stock. ''Things could go perfectly right, but it's still evolving. It bears monitoring very carefully.''
Stamford, Connecticut-based Xerox is expected to earn $2.68 a share in 1999, the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call Corp. First-quarter revenue was little changed at $4.3 billion. ''They made the right comments about what they think they can do'' to boost revenue, said Prudential Securities analyst B. Alex Henderson, who rates Xerox a ''strong buy.'' ''Business is accelerating and the stock is cheap.''
©1999 Bloomberg L.P.
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