Office Depot Issues Second Quarter Preliminary Outlook

Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, announced today that it continued to be negatively impacted by the challenging economic environment in the second quarter of 2008. As a result of additional pressure from weakening business conditions in the second quarter, North American Retail same store sales decreased nearly 10 percent versus the prior year and total Company sales were down slightly. The Company anticipates its EBIT margin to have declined for the second quarter by 200 basis points more than the 200 to 250 basis point decline previously indicated on a year-over-year basis as sales trends worsened late in the quarter. Office Depot said it is disappointed with these preliminary results driven by a very difficult business environment, but it continues to press ahead... [read full story]