Office Depot Sees Wider 3Q Loss, But Beats Street

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Office-supply chain Office Depot Inc. on Thursday said its third-quarter loss widened on restructuring charges and a continued sales slump amid the recession.

But adjusted results beat Wall Street expectations.

The company said a pullback in spending by both consumers and small businesses on all items, especially large-ticket ones such as furniture and computers, hurt sales. The company also continued to reduce markdowns on some low-margin categories.

The loss available to common shareholders for the quarter ended Sept. 26 totaled $413 million, or $1.51 per share, compared with a loss of $6.7 million, or 2 cents per share in the same period last year.

Excluding one-time items, including charges related to restructuring, net loss was 8 cents per share.

Revenue fell 17 percent to $3 billion from $3.66 billion last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, predicted a loss of 10 cents per share on revenue of $3.07 billion. Analyst estimates typically exclude one-time items.