Staples has revealed plunging losses after it incurred restructuring costs when it closed 23 stores at the beginning of the year.

In documents filed at Companies House, for the year to February 2 the office supplies retailer revealed pre-tax losses of £59.7m against the prior year’s pre-tax profit of £5.2m.

Staples, which has 112 stores, said it incurred costs of £47.5m due to the closure of 23 stores in January as part of the retailer’s global restructuring project. Staples said it closed the stores due to the growth in multichannel. Another two stores closed in its last financial year as property leases expired.

Sales fell 6.9% to £267.8m, which Staples blamed on the “continuing challenging market conditions” within the retail sector and the impact the economic environment has had on consumer spending.

Gross margins fell from 46.5% to 45.6% due to price competition on key products leading to an 8.7% drop in gross profit to £122m.

Topics