Financial/Banking

The Woodlands, Texas -- Conn's, Inc. has completed an expansion and extension of its asset-based loan facility with a syndicate of banks.

Fort Myers, Fla. – Chico’s FAS reported declining net income during the third quarter of fiscal 2013 even as net sales grew. Net income totaled $35.8 million, down 15% from $42 million in the same period a year earlier.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. - Sears Holdings chairman Eddie Lampert is reportedly considering selling the company’s Sears Canada stores. According to the New York Post, Lampert has been quietly consulting banks including Goldman Sachs and reaching out to prospective buyers.

Plano, Texas – J.C. Penney will no longer be included on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.  

Dow Jones Indices, which manages the S&P 500 as well as many other financial indices, said on Nov. 22 that Allegion, an Ireland-based provider of mechanical and electronic security products, will replace Penney on the S&P 500. Penney will join the S&P MidCap 400. The change will become effective after the stock market closes on Nov. 29.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Ross Stores Inc. reported third-quarter profit of $171.6 million, up from $159.5 million a year earlier, on higher sales and gross margins. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, the off-retailer forecast earnings below Street estimates and said it was adopting a more cautious outlook for the quarter.

Atlanta — Jones Lang LaSalle has closed the sale of Powers Ferry Plaza on behalf of Equity One. An Atlanta-based private investor purchased the 86,401-sq.-ft. shopping center anchored by Micro Center.

The property is strategically located on approximately 10.7 acres along Powers Ferry Road near the intersection of Powers Ferry Road and Delk Road, a little more than 12 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta.

Here’s something you may not have heard in a while: Competition from multiple buyers is causing a spike in the price of many shopping centers. This isn’t a minor bubble, either — it has become apparent to me that the extremely competitive nature of the current market has led to some dramatic overpricing. From my perspective, many of the price tags on power centers and grocery-anchored neighborhood centers (and, to a lesser extent, traditional malls and unanchored strip centers) are getting out of touch with reality.

New York -- Since 2009, retail sales at North America’s 205 outlet centers have increased from $19.9 billion to $27.6 billion, an increase of $7.7 billion, according to an International Council of Shopping Centers report.

Six publicly traded REITs with notable outlet center portfolios have benefited from outlet center success, according to SNL Financial. They are: