Sears closed the Toronto store in October and terminated four leases at stores in other Canadian cities before announcing a $5 a share special dividend to shareholders in Sears Canada last week. The total value of the special dividend was about $483 million.
Those transactions, combined with the report of discussions for a sale of Sears Canada, elicited these comments from a former CEO of the company:
When legitimate companies sell assets, they reinvest by paying down debt or using the funds to invest in the business. What’s Eddie Lampert doing? Putting the money in his pocket. … If anybody harbors the illusion that this guy has any capability or intent of running this company anyplace but into the ground, he’ll lose that illusion real fast
Same-store sales at the company’s U.S. stores declined by 3.1% in the third quarter, comprising a drop of 2.1% at Kmart stores and 4% at U.S. Sears stores. Kmart sales lagged in groceries, drugstore, consumer electronics, and toys. Sears’ stores showed “decreases in most categories” with consumer electronics, lawn & garden, tools, home appliances, and apparel being mentioned specifically.
Sears said in a late October statement that it is evaluating spinning-off or selling its Lands’ End business and its Auto Center business. In its statement the company explained:
We believe separating the management of these two businesses from Sears Holdings would allow them to pursue their own strategic opportunities, optimize their capital structures, attract talent, and allocate capital in a more focused manner while bringing our business unit structure to life outside of the Sears Holdings portfolio.
If Sears hives off Lands’ End, its Auto Centers as well as its Canadian business, there won’t be much left for the company to do but convert to a REIT or file for bankruptcy. Of those choices, bankruptcy would probably appear to the current owner to be the better option.
Shares of Sears Holdings closed up about 2.4% on Friday at $61.34 in a 52-week range of $38.40 to $66.00.
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