OfficeMax and Sports Authority See Weaker Profits

Sports Authority Inc., the largest U.S. sporting goods chain, said it will have a wider-than-expected loss in the latest quarter because of weak sales and that it will close 18 unprofitable stores after the holiday season.

Separately, office supplies retailer OfficeMax Inc. said its earnings will miss forecasts in the fiscal third and fourth quarters because of falling prices and slowing demand for personal computers and fax machines.

Sports Authority said it expects a loss before a charge of 27 cents to 32 cents a share for the quarter ending Oct. 25. Analysts had forecast a loss of 3 cents, according First Call Corp. A charge of $55 million, or $1.72 a share, is related to store closings.

Sports Authority also said it expects sales at stores open at least a year to fall 5% to 5.5% for the quarter.

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based retailer had net income of $2 million, or 6 cents a share, on sales of $340.9 million a year ago.

OfficeMax had been expected to earn 31 cents a diluted share for the third quarter, the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call. OfficeMax did not say how much it now expects to earn, but analysts said they now expect 26 cents or 27 cents a share. For the year-ago quarter, OfficeMax earned 25 cents.

Chief Executive Michael Feuer said OfficeMax also doesn’t expect to meet the average estimate of 41 cents a share for the fourth quarter. The forecast will probably be reduced to 34 cents or 35 cents, he said. The company earned 32 cents for the 1997 fourth quarter.

Shares of Shaker Heights, Ohio-based OfficeMax fell 88 cents to close at $7.88, a record low, on the New York Stock Exchange. Sports Authority stock fell $1.06 to $5.69, also on the NYSE.