Xerox, the world's top copier company, yesterday posted first-quarter earnings that fell 36 per cent, slightly above reduced expectations, reflecting increased competition and woes from a painful sales-force reorganisation.

Xerox, based in Stamford, Connecticut, employs almost 2,000 people at plants in Dundalk, Co Louth, and Blanchardstown, west Dublin.

It plans to expand this to 3,500 by 2003 and said income before previously announced charges fell to $220 million (€237.5 million), or 30 cents per share, from $343 million, or 48 cents, in the year earlier quarter.

Analysts on average had forecast earnings of 25 cents per share, according to First Call/ Thomson Financial, a research firm that tracks such forecasts.

Xerox said on March 31st it would take a $625 million pre-tax charge ($444 million after-tax) in the first quarter to cover some 5,200 job cuts - or 5.5 per cent of its worldwide workforce - as well as plant closings and inventory write-offs.

The Irish plants are not affected by the job cuts.

First-quarter revenue rose 3 per cent to $4.43 billion from $4.30 billion in the year-earlier quarter, adjusted for the adverse effects of currency translation.