Staples Posts In-Line Q1 Earnings, But Sales Miss Views

reported in-line earnings for the first quarter, but the company's sales missed analysts' expectations. For the current quarter, the company projects earnings of $0.11 to $0.13 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $0.11 per share. For the current quarter, Staples projects sales to drop from the year-ago quarter. The Framingham, Massachusetts-based company reported a quarterly profit of $59 million, or $0.09 per share, versus a year-earlier profit of $96 million, or $0.15 per share. Excluding certain items, the company's profit slipped to $0.17 per share from $0.18 per share. Its revenue declined 6.9 percent to $5.3 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.17 per share on revenue of $5.47 billion. The average estimate among 7 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.18 per share and revenue of $5.47 billion. North American Stores and Online sales for the first quarter slipped 10 percent to $2.4 billion, while North American Commercial sales rose 3 percent to $2.1 billion. International Operations sales for the first quarter dropped 19 percent in U.S. dollars to $782 million. Its comparable store sales slipped 5 percent in the quarter. Store traffic shrank 2 percent, while the average order size slipped 3 percent. Sales in Staples.com gained 1 percent in U.S. dollars, or 3 percent on a local currency basis. Non-GAAP operating income rate rose 6 basis points to 3.29 percent, versus 3.23 percent in the first quarter of 2014. Staples ended the quarter with $1.9 billion in liquidity. "Our first quarter results were in line with our expectations," said Ron Sargent, Staples' chairman and chief executive officer. "We grew sales in our North American delivery businesses and stabilized profitability across the company, which reflects continued progress on our strategic reinvention." Staples shares fell 3.11 percent to $15.90 in pre-market trading.