Xerox saw its second-quarter profit slide 12 percent on losses from the paper distribution business that it is shedding, but the company beat Wall Street expectations.

Net income fell to $271 million, or 22 cents per share, in the second quarter, down from $309 million, or 23 cents a year earlier. Revenues rose 1 percent to $5.4 billion, from $5.39 billion.

Shares rose nearly 2 percent in premarket trading Thursday.

The company is abandoning the paper distribution business and completed the sale of its North American and European paper business in the second quarter. Xerox is focusing instead on its services and technology units.

And earnings from its continuing operations totaled $345 million or 27 cents per share, the company said, a penny better than per-share earnings last year.

That exceeded the average estimate 24 cents from Wall Street analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Xerox CEO Ursula Burns said that the company expects to post an adjusted third-quarter profit of 24 cents to 26 cents per share. For the full-year Xerox is forecasting that it will post adjusted earnings per share of between $1.09 and $1.15 for the full-year.

The company's stock was little changed in pre-market trading. Xerox has gained 44 percent this year and closed at $9.83 Wednesday.