Staples quarterly sales fall 3.7 percent

[August 17, 2016]  (Reuters) - Staples Inc, the No. 1 U.S. office supplies retailer, reported a 3.7 percent fall in quarterly sales, reflecting a lower store count and a strong dollar.

The company's total sales fell to $4.75 billion in the second quarter ended July 30 from $4.94 billion a year earlier. The sales dropped for the 14th quarter in a row.

Sales at the company's established stores in North America fell 4 percent.

The company and smaller rival Office Depot Inc, which it tried unsuccessfully to buy, face stiff competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc  and Amazon.com Inc, even as people use far less stationery.

Staples reported a net loss of $766 million, or $1.18 per share, compared with a profit of $36 million, or 6 cents per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram and Gayathree Ganesan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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