Sears posts $548m third-quarter loss and plans to sell 300 stores
US department store chain Sears yesterday posted a $548m (£349m) third-quarter loss – slightly less than it had estimated last month.
The company said it had been expecting a much greater loss, in the area of $590m-$630m.
Revenue fell for the 12th straight quarter, dropping 13 per cent to $7.21bn.
The news comes at a time when chief executive Eddie Lampert and his hedge fund have been selling off assets, including its Land’s End clothing business and parts of its Canada branch, which had not been performing well.
As a result, the company cut total expenses by 12 per cent in the quarter, generating $2.2bn in liquidity in fiscal 2014 as a direct result from asset sales and other operations. Sears has faced increased competition from Target, Home Depot, Wal-Mart. It plans to sell up to 300 stores to a real estate investment trust, which would then lease the properties back to Sears.