Illinois-based retailer Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) Thursday reported second-quarter net loss which widened, hurt by the spin-off of Lands' End, decline in number of stores, lower domestic comparable store sales, and poor performance of Sears Canada.
CEO Edward Lampert termed the second-quarter earnings "unacceptable," and said the company will cut costs, improve pricing and promotions and invest in the hop Your Way and Integrated Retail customer initiatives.
For the 3-month period, net loss totaled $573 million or $5.39 per share, wider than the loss of $194 million or $1.83 per share a year earlier.
Excluding certain items, per-share loss stood at $2.87, compared with a loss of $1.56 last year.
On average, twenty-nine analysts polled by Thomson-Reuters estimated the company's quarterly loss to be $2.63. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
The company also reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $313 million, compared with a loss of $78 million a year ago.
Full-line comparable sales growth was nearly flat with last year. But excluding consumer electronics, the company said comparable store sales increased by 1.6 percent.
Quarterly revenues declined to $8.01 billion, from $8.87 billion last year, below the $8.13 billion Wall Street expected.
"BofA Merrill Lynch continues to assist us in exploring strategic alternatives for our 51% interest in Sears Canada, including a potential sale of our interest or Sears Canada as a whole," said CFO Rob Schriesheim.
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