ODP announces closure of 112 in the next 3 months, in addition to an another 14 as their leases expire.
Office Depot reported a 9.3% decline in net profit for the third quarter of fiscal 2007 compared with 2006. Office Depot officials attributed the profit decrease to a highly promotional quarter combined with an unfavorable shift in product mix to lower margin goods. Sales company wide increased approximately 2% to $3.9 billion compared with last year's third quarter. Sales in North America fell approximately 1% while international sales grew approximately 13%.
Office Depot announced that it will delay the announcement of its 3Q results as a result of a review of the company’s vendor program funds by the audit committee. Deutsche Bank also downgraded the company from Buy to Hold as a result of this delay and reduced its price target to $20.
09/28/2007 - 09/29/07: Office Depot announced that it will acquire a majority interest in AsiaEC, a leading office supply retailer in China.
Office Depot announced that it expects lower Q3 and Q4 earnings than the earnings in the corresponding periods last year, stating that the company’s small business customers have reduced purchases due to the prevailing difficult conditions in the housing market. Analysts, such as Goldman Sachs and Citi Investment Research, also expect the company’s earnings to decrease in the coming quarters.
