Problem:

For a recent year, OfficeMax and Staples are two companies competing in the retail office supply business. OfficeMax had a net income of $71,155,000, while Staples had a net income of $881,948,000. OfficeMax had preferred stock of $30,901,000 with preferred dividends of $2,527,000. Staples had no preferred stock. The average outstanding com-mon shares for each company were as follows: Average Number of Common Shares Outstanding O?ceMax 84,908,000 Staples715,596,000

Required:

Question 1: Determine the earnings per share for each company.

Question 2: Evaluate the relative profitability of the two companies.

Note: Please provide full description.