Office Depot Inc said Tuesday that it swung to a fiscal first-quarter loss as demand dwindled for computers and other big-ticket items.
By Rebecca Waters
For the quarter ended March 28, Office Depot reported a first-quarter net loss of $55 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with year-earlier net income of $69 million, or 25 cents a share.
Excluding charges, the retailer reported earnings of 10 cents a share, beating market estimates, who were expecting a loss of 10 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.
The adjusted numbers helped send the retailer's shares up 7.5 percent to $2.72 in pre-market trading.
INTERNATIONAL SALES
Sales in the quarter decreased 19 percent to $3.2 billion, while North American retail sales fell 16 percent to $1.44 billion.
Sales at the 1,138 stores open at least a year in the region dropped 17 percent, hurt by the economic downturn and small business customers reducing their spending, especially on large-ticket items such as furniture and computers, Office Depot said.
International sales declined 24 percent to $874.7 million. Excluding the impact of currency translations, they declined 9 percent, Office Depot said.
Read the Exec Digital's interview with Office Depot's CEO Steve Odland in the May issue of Exec Digital magazine.