Naperville-based OfficeMax Inc. reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit Wednesday as tight cost controls offset weak sales.
The third-largest U.S. office supplies seller’s fourth-quarter net income was $12.1 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $3.2 million, or 4 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, it earned 16 cents a share, beating the analysts’ average estimate of 11 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Total sales fell 2.4 percent to about $1.77 billion, missing the analysts’ average estimate of $1.79 billion.
