Best Buy reported Q3 earnings today, and outlined a number of cost-cutting measures, including asking for voluntary employee departures to deal with the most “challenging consumer environment” the company has ever faced. The company said it earned $52 million, or 13 cents a share, which was far less than the year-ago period when it earned $228 million, or 53 cents a share. The drop was mostly due to an impairment charge of $111 million, which was related to a significant decline in the value of the company’s nearly 3 percent stake in The Carphone Warehouse Group. Excluding the charge, earnings per share were 35 cents, a decrease of 34 percent compared to the previous year’s period. Analysts surveyed by First Call expected 25 cents a share. Release. Investor Call.

Voluntary and involuntary employee departures: Best Buy said yesterday it put into effect a voluntary separation package that is open to nearly all its corporate employees. The package provides incentives by offering a larger severance package. Depending on its response, the company said involuntary reductions in corporate staff may be required. Brad Anderson, Best Buy’s vice chairman and CEO: “We believe that there has been a dramatic and potentially long-lasting change in consumer behavior as people adjust to the new realities of the marketplace….We clearly recognize that these changes require us to make significant adjustments to our present cost structure.”

Other cuts: Best Buy will also reduce capital spending by about 50 percent next year, including a substantial reduction in new store openings in the U.S., Canada and China. Next year, the company wants selling, general and administrative spending to grow by no more than 2 percent, which will include savings in corporate staffing.

Holiday sales: Given Best Buy’s fiscal year reporting schedule, the third quarter includes the Thanksgiving holiday. It said Q3 was modestly ahead of its revised expectations based on s strong performance over the Thanksgiving weekend. With post-Thanksgiving revenue trends slowing, the company anticipates a drop in comparable store sales in December, as previously announced. The company maintains its guidance range for fiscal 2009 of earnings per share of $2.30 to $2.90, excluding the impairment charge. This guidance now assumes an annual comparable store sales decline of 1 percent to 5 percent.