P.M. BRIEFING : Xerox Blames $254-Million Loss on Real Estate Investment Firm

Xerox Corp. today reported a first-quarter loss of $254 million, or $2.93 per share, stemming from its interest in a struggling Chicago-based real estate investment firm.

Otherwise, the company reported “good growth” in its document-processing business and a slump in earnings from its financial services division that it attributed to the weak market for property and casualty insurance.

The Stamford-based business products and financial services company announced earlier this year that it had taken a $400-million pretax writeoff due to its investment in VMS Realty Partners, a Chicago real estate investment firm. After taxes, the writeoff totaled $375 million, Xerox said.

Even without the writeoff, Xerox earnings from continuing operations in the first three months of the year slumped to $121 million, or $1.06 per share, from $158 million, or $1.47 a share, in the same period of 1989.