Staples Inc , the largest U.S. office supply retailer, reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales, hurt by weak demand in Europe.

International results were weaker than expected as tight expense management was more than offset by very challenging top line trends, Chief Executive Officer Ron Sargent said in a statement.

Sales rose slightly to $6.57 billion in the third quarter ended on October 29.

Analysts on average were expecting sales of $6.72 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting by Mihir Dalal and Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)