BOSTON – Staples Inc. on Tuesday said its first-quarter profit surged to nearly $126 million from the same period in 2003, when the office supply retailer’s results were hurt by a $62 million charge for an accounting change.
The latest performance beat Wall Street expectations and marked the 10th straight quarter Staples has increased its profits 20 percent or more.
The chain, based in Framingham, Mass., reported net income of $125.7 million, or 25 cents a share, for the February-April period, compared with $24.8 million, or 5 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Sales rose to $3.45 billion from $3.09 billion a year ago, with North American comparable-store sales rising 5 percent and delivery sales up 11 percent.
The latest quarterly performance beat by 3 cents a share the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
The profit comparison between quarters was clouded by a $62 million charge Staples recorded a year earlier, when it responded to a directive from the Financial Accounting Standards Board to change how it logs vendor rebates.
Excluding that one-time expense, Staples’ latest earnings rose 39 percent compared with a year earlier.
“Our associates delivered another terrific quarter, with all segments of the business exceeding expectations,” said Ron Sargent, Staples’ president and chief executive. “We’re gaining market share and differentiating our company as a result of our focus on customer satisfaction and execution.”
Staples shares rose $1.97, or 8 percent, to close at $26.39 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Staples, an 18-year-old company with 1,600 stores and 60,000 employees, said it expects 20 percent earnings growth for the second quarter and for the full year. That’s in line with the estimates of analysts, who expect a profit of 22 cents a share in the current quarter and $1.33 for the full year. Staples said it is comfortable with that forecast.
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