Staples profits rise
In the second quarter Staples profits rose by 11%. This is because while less office furniture and business machines were sold, the copy and print centers gained in their popularity. Sales of laptop computers, ink and software were also strong. However, this is just the beginning as they expect their earnings to grow by 15 to 20% this year. At this rate, Staples stock is currently selling for 25 cents per share in comparison to the fact that it sold for 22 cents per share at this time in 2006. It is also important to note that sales are currently at the $4.29 billion mark, whereas they were only at the $3.88 billion mark at this time in 2006. All of this is in line for what analysts have forecasted for this company. Unfortunately though, stores that opened in North American within the last year saw their sales fall by 2% in the latest quarter. Nevertheless, North American sales actually rose by 5%. When it comes to international sales, they rose 18% but the gain was only a modest 11% whenever currency fluctuations were accounted for. Overall there was a 16% sales gain.
