Sears Holdings loss widens in Q2, misses Street

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp. reported Thursday that its losses for the second quarter widened more than expected to $146 million, compared with a loss of $39 million in the year-ago period.



The operator of Sears and Kmart stores cited aggressive merchandise markdowns as one reason for the poor performance. This is the second consecutive quarterly loss of the company, and its fourth in the last five quarters.



"We are not satisfied with our results and are taking actions to turn around our performance in a challenging economic environment," Lou D'Ambrosio, CEO, said.



During the second quarter, the company cut 250 jobs and closed 29 stores to reduce expense. It also converted 14 Sears stores to Kmarts.



Revenue dipped 1.2% to $10.33 billion, topping Wall Street’s expected $10.13 billion. Same-store sales dropped 1.2% at Sears and were flat at Kmart.