Europe: Staples announces job cuts after disappointing sales

Europe: Staples announces job cuts after disappointing sales

Staples has reported disappointing fourth-quarter retail sales in Australia and Europe and said it plans several hundred job cuts in both regions.
International sales fell 5% to $1.3 billion and would have dropped 4% excluding the currency translation impact.

While European delivery and corporate contract business were strong in markets such as the U.K. and Germany, retail was a weak spot with comparable sales in the region declining 9%. Sales of computers and printing hardware dropped in the double digits, executives said in a conference call.

In Australia, sales in local currency dropped in the mid-single-digits. The company named a new president for Australia and New Zealand late in the fourth quarter.

“Sales across Europe have suffered significantly through the current economic crisis,” said President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Miles on a conference call. “The deteriorating macro trends in Europe had a negative impact on our results and we also had execution issues both in Europe and Australia. Our plans for 2012 in international revolve around very tight expense management and improving our profitability.”