Staples Meets First-Quarter Profit Target
Office supplies retailer
Staples
(SPLS)
posted quarterly financial results Tuesday that met Wall Street's profit targets and bested sales estimates.
First-quarter net income came to $212.3 million, or 30 cents a share, up from $209.1 million, or 29 cents a share, a year ago. Sales increased 6% to $4.9 billion from $4.6 billion a year ago. Analysts were looking for earnings of 30 cents a share on $4.82 billion in revenue.
North American retail sales grew 2%, and comparable-store sales decreased 6%, "reflecting declines in customer traffic and average order size," the company said.
International sales grew 8%, or 19% in U.S. dollars thanks to a $72 million foreign currency impact. International comparable-store sales increased 4% over last year.
"We are pleased to deliver solid results in a challenging quarter," said CEO Ron Sargent. "We continue to gain share while we invest in growth ideas to strengthen our market position."
Looking ahead, Staples expects the weak economic climate to continue throughout 2008 and so it's maintaining its previous full-year outlook for mid-single-digit sales growth and high single-digit earnings per share growth. The company said it expects flat earnings per share growth for the second quarter.
This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com.