Sears: Smell the burn

Despite whacking inventories by 15% and raking in $500 million from the Lands’ End spin-off, cash on the balance sheet at Sears Holding tumbled by $200 million during the first quarter.

As has become the norm, company execs were quick to point to yet another asset from which it can wring out more cash. Rob Schriesheim, cfo, said Sears Holding is in talking with third parties about strategic alternatives for the Sears Auto Center business. And the company is contemplating shuttering another 80 stores, according to a report this morning in The Wall Street Journal.

For the quarter ended May 3, net loss widened to $402 million, or $3.79 loss per share from a net loss of $279 million, or $2.63 loss per share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) yawned to a $221 million loss compared to a $26 million loss in the previous Q1.

Total revenues from sales and services fell 6.8% to $7.9 billion. On the bright side, U.S. Sears stores eked out a 0.2% increase in same-store sales compared to a 2.4% decline last year. Kmart comps were down 2.2% as compared to a 4.6% decline last year.

Source: Home Textiles Today