OfficeMax Warns of Challenges Ahead
NEW YORK (
) --
OfficeMax
(OMX)
narrowed its loss in the fourth quarter, but warned that it will continue to face challenging economic conditions this year.
During the quarter, the office supply retailer lost $3.2 million, or 4 cents a share, compared with a loss of $396 million, or $5.21, in the year-ago period.
Excluding items, the loss was 3 cents a share, easily topping analysts' forecast of a loss of 7 cents. The company had significantly fewer write-downs this year compared with last year.
Sales fell 4% to $1.81 billion, while same-store sales tumbled 6.7%.
OfficeMax said it expects to post a sales growth in 2010, while analysts forecast 1.7% sales decline.
Even with this sales growth, "The company expects to continue facing challenging economic conditions, such as U.S. unemployment trends, over the near-term with these trends beginning to work in the company's favor toward the latter part of the year," CEO Sam Duncan said in a statement.
"We think the bears will look at guidance for the first quarter and 2010 and say it's implied below the Street," J.P. Morgan analyst Christopher Horvers wrote in a note. "However, we think that is confusing the trees from the forest. This is not about a fourth-quarter beat, this is about earnings power, a later cycle stock and a modest macro recovery."
Horvers maintains his overweight rating on the stock, saying investors should be pleased that sales showed sequential improvement.
-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.
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