As a result of same stores sales declining 6.8 percent, combining with closure of a few stores, overall revenue at retailer Sears Canada Inc. declined 11.9 percent year-on-year in the 13-week period ended August 2, 2014.
In the second fiscal quarter of 2014, sales at Sears totalled $845.8 million compared to $960.1 million for the 13-week period ended August 3, 2013, down 11.9 percent, while same store sales declined 6.8 percent.
"The balance of the decrease in revenues was primarily attributable to revenues from stores closed as a result of early termination and amendment of certain full-line store leases and the sale of joint arrangement interests in fiscal 2013”, Sears said.
The net loss for the second quarter of this year plunged to $21.3 million or 21 cents per share compared to net earnings of $152.8 million or $1.50 per share for the second quarter of last year.
Included in the net loss for the second quarter of this year were pre-tax transformation expenses of $7.9 million related primarily to severance costs incurred during the quarter, pre-tax asset impairment charges of $18.3 million as well as pre-tax gains of $20.5 million related to the sale of its interest in certain joint arrangements and $11.4 million related to the settlement of certain retirement benefits, Sears informed.
Sears Canada reported adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2014 of $16.1 million compared to an adjusted EBITDA of $20.2 million for the second quarter of 2013.
"Although our same store sales declined this quarter, in part due to an unseasonably cool spring, we continued to make significant progress establishing the retail fundamentals that are necessary to support our business in the long-term," said Douglas Campbell, CEO at Sears Canada.
"We took aggressive markdowns to clear aged inventory and surplus spring merchandise, and ended the quarter with 20% less spring/summer inventory than last year. Additionally, we continued to proactively reduce expenses, which we did by 13.3 percent”, he informed.
