Officemax (NYSE:OMX)
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Cautious consumer and business spending took a toll on third-quarter results for major office supply retailers Office Depot Inc. (ODP) and OfficeMax Inc. (OMX).

While both companies expect the spending environment to remain challenging, Office Depot management took on a slightly more optimistic note on a conference call with analysts, as its chief executive said he sees encouraging signs in the company's North American retail division.

In recent trading, shares of Office Depot were up 8% to $6.37, while OfficeMax's shares rose 3.5% to $10.59.

Office Depot reported a wider third-quarter loss, as the company has posted just one profitable quarter in the past seven. However, excluding charges, Office Depot's latest earnings beat Wall Street's expectations. Analysts also took heart in the retailer's gross margin improvement.

In its earnings call, Office Depot noted it had a good back-to-school season, and Chief Executive Officer Steve Odland said that despite another sales decline in the segment, he's "feeling better about North American retail right now." Odland noted the retailer is beginning to see improving trends in many parts of the country. California continues to be a difficult market, however.

"The fourth quarter will be challenging, but we are excited about the prospects for our back to business season in the first quarter of 2010," Odland said in the call.

For the third quarter, Office Depot reported a loss of $398 million, or $1.51 a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $6.7 million, or 2 cents a share.

Adjusted for various tax-related items recognized in the first half of the year and other charges related to previously announced restructuring actions, the company reported a loss of $21 million, or 8 cents a share, compared to a loss of $2 million, or a penny a share, in the prior-year period.

Sales dropped 17% to $3 billion, with North American same-store sales down 14%.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a per-share loss of 10 cents on revenue of $3.1 billion.

Office Depot's gross margin rose to 28.4% from 28%.

Meanwhile, OfficeMax eked out a third-quarter profit, following a year-earlier period that had a write-down from a Lehman Brothers Holdings guaranteed-installment note. However, revenue and margins continued to fall as earnings fell well short of analysts' expectations.

The No. 3 office retailer, behind Office Depot and Staples Inc. (SPLS), performed a bit better-than-expected during the crucial back-to-school season, as private label items did well and promotions were well-received, its Chief Operating Officer Sam Martin said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

However, the average basket size was smaller, he noted, and in an earnings call with analysts, Martin emphasized the back-to-school season was still "challenging" as consumers remain price sensitive and continue to cherry-pick items.

OfficeMax also forecast lower sales in the fourth quarter, but a smaller decline than the third quarter's 14% drop. It also anticipates a loss. Analysts' mean estimates, as surveyed by Thomson Reuters, were break-even results on a 9% sales drop to $1.72 billion.

Chief Financial Officer Bruce Besanko said in an interview that although the company forecast lower fourth-quarter sales, OfficeMax's sales trends have improved sequentially so far this year. However, the company is "planning cautiously" moving forward.

OfficeMax reported third-quarter earnings of $6.3 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $431.9 million, or $5.70 a share. Excluding impacts like the prior-year write-down, earnings fell to 8 cents from 36 cents.

Revenue slipped 13% to $1.83 billion as same-store sales dropped 11.5%.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 14 cents on revenue of $1.81 billion.

Gross margin fell to 23.7% from 25.1% amid the revenue decline.

Sales at OfficeMax's contract segment - its business-to-business office-products distributor - dropped 14% amid particular weakness in the U.S.

- By Kelly Nolan; Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2167; kelly.nolan@dowjones.com

(Kevin Kingsbury and Adam Manzor contributed to this article.)