Sears Holdings Corp., which owns both Sears and K-Mart, reported that its profits fell 55% in the fourth-quarter. Bloomberg says part of Sears' losses are from the write down of its Orchard Supply Hardware unit.
Net income declined to $190 million, or $1.55 a share, from $426 million, or $3.17, a year earlier, the Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based company said today in a statement.
Revenue dropped 12 percent to $13.3 billion in the three months ended Jan. 31 as U.S. retailers experienced the worst holiday shopping season in four decades. Sales at stores open at least a year have fallen every quarter since Chairman Edward Lampert combined Sears and Kmart almost four years ago.
"Sears remains a market-share loser in a declining consumer spending environment," Gary Balter, an analyst at Credit Suisse in New York, wrote in a report last month. He rates the shares "underperform."
Sears also plans to close 24 stores, which in addition to 8 stores they already closed. Sears also closed 28 stores in 2008 according to the Wall Street Journal. Sears is hardly alone when it comes to retailers reporting big 4th quarter losses. Most retailers had a very hard time in the fourth quarter. You can read the full release from Sears here.
