Staples to close up to 225 stores as sales drop 11%

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Staples plans to close up to 225 stores in North America by the end of 2015, the Framingham-based office supply retailer announced Thursday.

The store closures – coupled with job losses, supply chain optimization and non-product related cost cuts – are expected to reduce pre-tax costs by $500 million annually by 2015.

The company didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry regarding how many jobs would be lost and the location of stores that would close. The closings amount to more than 12 percent of Staples’ 1,846 North American locations.

This is Staples’ second round of store closures; the company shut down 107 locations in North America and Europe during 2012 and 2013.

Fourth-quarter sales came in nearly 11 percent lower than last year, falling from $6.57 billion to $5.87 billion. Analysts were expecting quarterly sales of $5.97 billion.

Earnings rose from $90 million, or 14 cents per share, in the final quarter of 2012 to $212 million, or 33 cents per share, in 2013. But that still fell short of Wall Street expectations of 39 cents.

Staples’ shares dropped by nearly 14 percent from $13.40 prior to Wednesday’s market closing, to $11.53 as of 10:15 a.m. Thursday. That’s the lowest stock price for the company in the past year.

Staples expects a year-over-year decline in sales during the first quarter of 2014, with earnings between 17 and 22 cents per share. Analysts on average were expecting 27 cents per share.