In early trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Xerox shares were off one at 18-9/16, a price not seen since mid-1995. It was among the NYSE's most active issues.

After the close of trading on Thursday, Xerox said the Securities and Exchange Commission had opened an investigation into accounting issues at its Mexican business. Xerox would not elaborate on the probe, but earlier this month Xerox had warned that its second-quarter profit would not meet Wall Street expectations, in part because of accounts receivables issues in Mexico. The investigation is the latest blow to Xerox, which lost its chief Executive in a management shakeup in May that was prompted by a string of lackluster profits and a decline of more than 67 per cent in the stock price over 12 months.

Xerox has been struggling to transform itself from acompany that makes free-standing copiers into one that sells digital printers connected to computer networks.