OfficeMax Inc. released its fourth quarter results on Wednesday. The company reported smaller loss in the fourth quarter of $3.2 million, or 4 cents per share, while in the same period last year the company posted a loss of $396 million, or $5.21 per share, in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported a loss of 3 cents per share. The result of the fourth quarter totally beats the market expectations as the analysts were expecting that the company would report a loss of 7 cents per share in the fourth quarter.

The net sales of the No. 3 U. S. office products retailer in the fourth quarter were posted $1.8 billion decreasing by 5% as it was reported $1.9 billion in the same quarter last year. The sales figure also beats the analysts' average estimate of $1.73 billion. The company reported a decline in all major product categories of its retail same store sales fell across. The weaker small business and consumer spending are reportedly the main reasons behind the decrease in sales.

For the coming fiscal OfficeMax expects to face challenging economic conditions in the first half and expects that the trend will improve in the second half of the year.