Retail

Office Depot Hit with Weak Sales, Restructuring Charges

Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) said this morning that it swung to a third-quarter loss of $69.6 million, or $0.25 per share, due in part to declining same-store sales in North America on dwindling sales of computers and related products.

Excluding restructuring and impairment charges, the Boca Raton-based specialty retailer posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.06 on revenues of $2.69 billion for the quarter. In the same period a year ago, the company reported $0.00 per share on revenues of $2.84 billion. The quarter’s results also compare to the consensus estimates for EPS of $0.1 and $2.73 million in revenues.

The company also said its total gross profit margin increased about 90 basis points in the third quarter of 2012, compared to the prior year period. And Office Depot ended the quarter with free cash flow of $190 million, up significantly from $139 million reported in the year-ago period.

The report did not offer guidance, but the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates call for EPS to tick up to $0.04 on sales of $2.85 billion. For the full year, analysts are looking for a net loss of $0.03 per share and $10.98 billion in revenues.

Office Depot shares are inactive in premarket trading but closed yesterday at $2.51. The 52-week range is $1.51 to $3.81.

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