NAPERVILLE, Ill.–OfficeMax this morning reported a decline in sales but a growth in income for the first quarter ended March 29.
Sales dropped nearly 5.5 percent to $2.3 billion, compared with the same period a year ago. But that still resulted in a profit growth of 8.2 percent to $63.3 billion. And for investors, the growth reflected a per-share rise to 81 cents from 76 cents.
Stan Duncan, chairman and chief executive officer, said that the profit increase in the face of declining sales resulted from “streamlining operations and pursuing cost controls across our company.”
The office supplies giant said that sales in its retail segment dropped 5.5 percent to $1.1 billion, “reflecting a same-store sales decrease of 8.7 percent, partially offset by sales from new stores.” The operating income from this segment dropped to $29.4 million from $64.6 million.