NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Top U.S. office supplies retailer Staples Inc (SPLS.O) reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, boosted by tight cost controls and market share gains.
Smaller rivals Office Depot Inc (ODP.N) and OfficeMax Inc (OMX.N) also relied on cost cuts to offset tepid sales. Both posted sales declines in the third quarter, while Staples' sales rose 0.3 percent to $6.54 billion.
Staples, which reported preliminary third-quarter results late last month, said earnings rose to $288.7 million, or 40 cents a share, from $269.4 million, or 37 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding integration and restructuring charges, profit was 41 cents a share, beating analysts' average estimate of 40 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Sales at Staples' North American stores open at least a year fell 1 percent in the quarter, which ended October 30.
Many investors look at office supply retailers as a barometer of economic health because demand for their products is closely tied to white-collar employment rates. Their sales have suffered as consumers and small businesses spend less.
But Staples has consistently outperformed its rivals in the past two years. The industry Goliath stands to gain even more as it steps up efforts to expand its high-margin copy and print and technology services businesses, analysts have said.
Staples has struck a deal with Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) to sell the online retailer's Kindle e-readers at the more than 1,500 U.S. Staples stores this fall.
For 2011, the company backed its previous forecast for a sales rise in the low to mid single digits, and earnings per share of $1.50 to $1.60.
(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Maureen Bavdek and John Wallace)
No comments:
Post a Comment