Office Depot Posts Net Loss, on Weak North American Demand

Office Depot’s Q2 sales slipped 1 percent to $3.6 billion. It posted a net loss of $2 million, compared with a profit of $106 million in the same quarter last year, due to lower-than-expected retail sales in its North American stores. Slow sales growth from national account customers was offset by a 10 percent decrease from small and midsize customers, writes BtoB. Office Depot will cut an undisclosed number of corporate jobs while slowing new-store openings in a bid to improve results. The company also announced that it received an unsolicited proposal from its partner in a Mexican joint venture to buy its stake in the venture for $430 million, At last, the $17.9 billion buyout of Clear Channel by private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital closed today (Wednesday) - nearly two years after the company first... [read full story]