Sears Reveals Key Sales Figure; Investors Freak

Shares of Sears Holdings Corp SHLD are down more than 9.5 percent on Monday trading, after the company said same-store sales continued to fall substantially over the second quarter – second quarter financial results will be announced on August 20. This is the tenth consecutive quarter in which this metric fell.

Management said that the drag came mostly from its namesake stores. Apparently, Sears and Kmart stores open for a year or more saw their sales plummet 10.6 percent between April and June. Sears store performed the worst, with same-store sales down 13.9 percent. Kmart was slightly less “soft,” registering a decline of 6.9 percent.

The retailer said that the weakness responded, in a big percentage, to feeble consumer electronics sales. If the segment was excluded from results, sales at stores open for at least a year fell 9.1 percent -- 5.4 percent at Kmart and 12.5 percent at Sears.

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On the other hand, the company said it expects “proceeds from the spinoff of some of its real estate will lead it to report a second-quarter profit of between $155 million and $205 million, which has also helped shore up its cash position,” a recent Star Tribune article reads.

The note continues, “Sears Holdings also announced the extension of a $3.28 billion credit line. The company said the credit line, along with $2.7 billion in proceeds from the sale of more than 200 properties to a real estate investment trust it spun off, gives it more financial flexibility.”