Staples, Inc. (SPLS) swung to a net loss for the quarter ended Jan. 28, 2017. The company has made a net loss of $952 million, or $ 1.46 a share in the quarter, against a net profit of $86 million, or $0.13 a share in the last year period. On the other hand, adjusted net income from continuing operations for the quarter stood at $161 million, or $0.25 a share compared with $168 million or $0.26 a share, a year ago. Revenue during the quarter went down marginally by 2.88 percent to $4,560 million from $4,695 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 93 basis points over the previous year period to 27.06 percent. Operating margin for the quarter stood at negative 12.02 percent as compared to a positive 3.62 percent for the previous year period.
Operating loss for the quarter was $548 million, compared with an operating income of $170 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted operating income for the quarter stood at $243 million compared to $261 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted operating margin contracted 23 basis points in the quarter to 5.33 percent from 5.56 percent in the last year period.
"Our fourth quarter results were right in-line with our expectations, and I'm increasingly confident that we have the right plan and the right team to transform Staples and get back to sustainable sales and earnings growth," said Shira Goodman, Staples' chief executive officer. "I am particularly proud of our ability to grow our delivery business by continuing to enhance our offering and satisfy our business customers."
For the first-quarter, Staples, Inc. projects diluted earnings per share from continuing operations to be in the range of $0.15 to $0.18 on an adjusted basis.
Operating cash flow falls marginally
Staples, Inc. has generated cash of $934 million from operating activities during the year, down 4.50 percent or $44 million, when compared with the last year. The company has spent $311 million cash to meet investing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $374 million in the last year. It has incurred net capital expenditure of $241 million on net basis during the year, down 31.92 percent or $113 million from year ago.
The company has spent $318 million cash to carry out financing activities during the year as against cash outgo of $378 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $1,137 million as on Jan. 28, 2017, up 37.82 percent or $312 million from $825 million on Jan. 30, 2016.
Debt moves up marginally
Staples, Inc. has witnessed an increase in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $1,048 million as on Jan. 28, 2017, up 1.65 percent or $17 million from $1,031 million on Jan. 30, 2016. Total debt was 12.67 percent of total assets as on Jan. 28, 2017, compared with 10.14 percent on Jan. 30, 2016. Debt to equity ratio was at 0.28 as on Jan. 28, 2017, up from 0.19 as on Jan. 30, 2016.
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