Show Entire Article
Sears executives tried Wednesday to ease concerns about the troubled retailer's long-term outlook amid ever-sinking sales, emphasizing the company's financial strength, increased liquidity and prospects to boost operational results.
Chairman Edward Lampert told shareholders at Sears Holdings Corp.'s annual meeting that the company is "not planning to just survive" but thrive as a result of actions it is taking to not only win back disillusioned shoppers but get more productivity out of its real estate holdings.
"We're not just sitting here thinking that things will magically get better," Lampert said at a media briefing after the meeting at company headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Ill. "We're taking a lot of actions."
The company has been on the defensive with Wall Street after losing $3.14 billion in 2011 and because of the years-long decline in sales at its Sears and Kmart stores. Revenue at U.S. stores open at least a year, a key indicator of retailers' performance, fell 2.2 percent last year.
Sears had announced a day before the meeting that it expects to show much better results from the first quarter, including an operating profit and an overall gain helped by the sale of some of its 4,000 U.S. and Canadian stores. That sent its stock up sharply.
Page 1 of 3 | Next PageShow Entire Article
GGP News & Analysis
DATA IS REAL-TIME EXCEPT NOTED WITH *
* DATA DELAYED AT LEAST 15 MINUTES