Xerox – once known as “the company that fumbled the future” after it failed to exploit technology later developed by Apple for the first desktop PCs –  said its profit rose more than expected in the June quarter, helped by falling expenses and ahead of a planned split of the company.

The company has been working to separate its business by the end of the year into two companies: the slower-growing document business, which will keep the Xerox name, and a services business to be called Conduent.

In the latest quarter, revenue in the company’s services business fell two percent to $2.47 billion (A$3.25 billion). Sales in its legacy hardware division – like printers and, yes, fax machines – dropped seven percent to $1.75 billion.