US-based office supplies store, Staples posted a flat quarterly profit and said that it would cut its outlook for the rest of 2008, after CEO Ron Sargent states the US economy is in recession.Speaking about the retailer's performance over the crucial Christmas quarter, Staple's president and COO told investors: "Sales were weaker than expected throughout the quarter but we had a particularly slow December.
"While there were a few hot selling items during the holiday season such as the Dell assortment, GPS and digital frames we saw a significant drop off in consumer spending that month."
Sargent praised the retailer's European and UK operations saying: "Our Retail and Delivery teams there did a superb job of focusing on the levers that will get us to a 7.5 per cent operating margin. Their hard work has put us well on the way to achieving this goal."
He added that the UK was among the markets that had helped drive growth in the region.
Advertisement
Related Stories
- iPad boosts April online sales to strongest in 18 months May 22nd 2012 at 10:53AM
- Vendor job cuts rumoured to be on the way May 21st 2012 at 1:21PM
- Considering a new career? May 18th 2012 at 1:36PM
- GfK: Market growth to slow in 2012 May 2nd 2012 at 11:49AM
- The UK loves smartphone news Mar 25th 2012 at 11:25PM
- Government aims to double UK exports Mar 21st 2012 at 1:30PM
- Consumer caution returns as the Christmas holiday ends Feb 7th 2012 at 1:55PM
- Samsung to launch Galaxy Nexus White Feb 7th 2012 at 10:08AM
- Microsoft UK pricing could rise Feb 3rd 2012 at 12:06PM
- Alienware slims it down with X51 desktop Jan 18th 2012 at 7:10AM
