OfficeMax has down Q2; predicts tough road ahead

Naperville, Ill. – OfficeMax had a dismal second quarter of 2013, swinging to a big quarterly loss and experiencing declining total and same-store sales.



The office supply retailer reported a loss of $10 million, compared with a profit of $10.7 million in the year-ago period. Total sales dropped 4.3% to $1.53 billion, compared to $1.6 billion in the second quarter of the prior year. Same-store sales declined 3.6%. OfficeMax said the same-store sales dropped primarily due to decreased traffic and lower technology product category sales.



Based on the current environment, OfficeMax anticipates that total company sales for the third quarter and full fiscal year 2013 will be lower than the third quarter and full fiscal year 2012, including the projected unfavorable impact of foreign currency translation.



In two bright spots, OfficeMax.com reported double-digit year-over-year sales growth and the retailer said its upcoming merger with Office Depot is proceeding as planned. Ravi Saligram, president and CEO of OfficeMax, tried to stike a positive tone in his public comments.



"Sales declined in the second quarter, which impacted profitability compared to the prior year period,” said Saligram. “We continue to implement cost reduction measures to align our expenses with our revenue base and expect second-half profit performance to improve versus the first half. Further, we're pleased to have received additional cash proceeds from our Boise investment in July, bolstering our strong balance sheet. In spite of secular challenges and an uneven economic recovery, we remain committed to restoring sales growth by evolving our business model to focus more on services, innovating new products and categories, growing our adjacencies, and building our omni-channel capabilities.”