cents a share, in its second quarter ended Aug 1. Excluding special items such
as a 32 cents-a share charge for store closings and severance, and a 22
cents-per-share charge for domestic pension plan expense, Sears had a loss of
$20 million, or 17 cents a share.
In the year-ago quarter, Sears had a profit of $65 million,
or 50 cents per share.
Revenue fell 10% to $10.55 billion from $11.76 billion on
the stronger dollar and same-store sale declines.
Comparable-store sales for Sears in the
sales fell 3.9%. The company said the Sears sales fall was due to categories
hit by housing-market conditions as well as lower apparel sales.
The Kmart sales fall was on declining apparel sales, which were partly
offset by rising home-electronics sales
Sears noted that it improved its financials by paring
inventories and cutting costs. Merchandise inventories fell to about $9.4
billion from $9.8 billion a year ago, while domestic inventory levels declined
to $8.6 billion from $8.9 billion.
Total costs and expenses dropped to $10.61 billion from
$11.58 billion. The retailer closed 28 underperforming stores in the quarter
and said it expects an additional charge of about $5 million in the second half
of the year as stores closed in the quarter wind down their operations.
