Office Depot to close stores and cut costs after its Staples tie-up failure
US stationery supplier Office Depot is planning to close a further 300 stores over the next three years to help cut costs by $250m (£187m).
The announcement came as the company posted profit of $210m, or 38 cents a share for its second quarter, from a loss of $58m in the same period a year ago.
Revenue slipped to $3.2bn from $3.4bn, but came in ahead of the $3.2bn analysts had pencilled in.
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The retailer has already shuttered 400 of its US stores by the end of the second quarter, leaving it with 1,513 in North America.
Investors were cheered by news that it would raise its stock buyback programme to $250m from $100m and the introduction of a quarterly dividend.
Last year rival Staples agreed to buy Office Depot for about $6.3bn but in May this year the US Federal Trade Commission stepped on the deal, arguing it would mean higher prices and fewer options for bulk buyers.
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Office Depot picked up $250m from Staples as a result of the deal’s collapse.
In May it was announced Office Depot was looking to offload its struggling European business.