Abercrombie & Fitch U.S. stores closed ‘until further notice,’ draws down credit

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is reevaluating all expenditures in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The apparel retailer also said it will continue to keep all stores outside of the Asia-Pacific region temporarily closed until further notice. Abercrombie also said it has started the process to draw down $210 million from its revolving credit facility. Last week, the company withdrew most of its excess funds from Rabbi, providing it with about $50 million.

(As of February 1, 2020, Abercrombie had $671 million in cash and cash equivalents.)

Abercrombie will not undertake any share buybacks for the foreseeable future.

“We entered this period of unprecedented uncertainty with a healthy liquidity position and are taking immediate, aggressive and prudent actions, including reevaluating all expenditures to enhance our ability to meet the business’ short-term liquidity needs, in order to best position the company for our key stakeholders, including our associates, customers and shareholders,” said CEO Fran Horowitz. “We are partnering with our vendors, landlords, and lenders to preserve liquidity and mitigate risk during the COVID-19 outbreak.”