Staples Q2 profit drops 39% on charge, meets Street

Framingham, Mass. Staples reported second-quarter results on Tuesday, saying its fiscal second-quarter profit dropped 39% on a hefty charge, but adjusted results still met Wall Street expectations.

The retailer reported net income for the period ended Aug. 1 fell to $92.4 million, compared with $150.2 million a year ago.

Excluding a $30 million integration and restructuring expense involved in the July 2008 acquisition of Dutch office-supply company Corporate Express NV, profit met analysts’ estimates, which normally exclude one-time items.

Staples maintained that it still expected to save up to $300 million annually over the three-year integration period following the acquisition.

Second-quarter sales rose 9% to $5.53 billion, partly helped by its acquisition. The results were slightly off from Wall Street's $5.55 billion estimate.

The chain's North American Delivery segment reported 18% sales growth to $2.3 billion, while North American retail revenue dipped 5% to $2 billion.

Same-store sales fell 5% on the contraction of the average ticket size.

Staples did not provide full-year earnings or sales forecasts.