The company reported $-2.40 Earnings Per Share for the quarter, beating the analyst consensus estimate by $0.10. Sears had previously disclosed the weak sales results. 395,860 shares of the stock traded hands.
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Revenue fell 22.5% to $6.21 billion, coming out ahead of forecasts for $5.72 billion.
Still, comparable revenue at stores open more than a year tumbled 10.8 percent, partly due to a shrinking consumer electronics business. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 71,700 shares in the company, valued at $1,786,047. The company has a market cap of $2,567 million and the number of outstanding shares has been calculated to be 106,602,000 shares.
At Sears stores, same-store sales dropped 14 per cent, and they fell 7.3 per cent at Kmart. Adjusted gross margin rate expanded 290 bps to 22.5% for the quarter. Pershing Square believes that its involvement enhanced both the speed and certainty of the merger between Sears and Kmart, hence contributed to the value creation for shareholders of Sears. It is a parent company of Kmart Holding Corporation (Kmart) and Sears, Roebuck and Co. To bolster the company’s finances, Lampert has sold or spun off assets such as the Lands’ End clothing unit, and most recently, the Seritage REIT. This only indicates that its sales continue to topple as it fails to revive traction and shoppers’ traffic.
Sears Holdings CFO Rob Schriesheim said the company has become more efficient in its promotional programs and the Shop Your Way omnichannel program, replacing traditional forms of marketing with more targeted and personalized digital interactions.
The company had already cautioned of its sales decline earlier in August.
The company sold 235 stores and its 50 per cent interest in joint ventures with three mall operators to real estate investment trust Seritage Growth Properties for $2.7-billion (U.S.) during the quarter.
But the three agency holding companies in the pitch – IPG (NYSE: IPG), Havas Worldwide (EN Paris: HAV) and Publicis Groupe (EPA: PUB) – were informed, somewhat to their surprise, that the pitch isn’t over yet. He added this transformation has allowed Sears Holdings to improve its EBITDA for four consecutive quarters.
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Sears Chief Executive Edward Lampert has been trying to turn around the ailing business by investing in new technologies and services, but results have continued to wither. Of that, it booked a $508 million gain in the second quarter ended August 1, with the rest to be recognized over the life of the leases.
