Sears Holdings third quarter disappoints

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. Sears Holdings reported a net loss of $218 million, or $1.98 per diluted share, for the third quarter 2010 compared with a loss of $127 million, or $1.09 per diluted share, in 2009.

"While Kmart improved profitability, our third quarter results were disappointing, in large part due to lower sales of apparel and appliances at Sears," said Bruce Johnson, Sears Holdings' interim chief executive officer and president.  "Our seasonal apparel sales were down, with the unusually warm weather being a contributing factor."

Total revenues decreased $512 million to $9.7 billion for the quarter, as compared with total revenues of $10.2 billion for the same period last year.  The decline in total revenue for the quarter was primarily a result of a 4.8% decrease in domestic comparable-store sales and the effect of having fewer Kmart and Sears Full-line stores in operation, partially offset by an increase of $54 million due to changes in the Canadian foreign exchange rate, according to the company.

The domestic comparable-store sales decrease included declines of 0.7% at Kmart and 8.2% at Sears Domestic.  Kmart's quarterly decrease in comparable-store sales was primarily driven by the food and consumables and pharmacy categories, the company reported.  Sears Domestic's sales decline was primarily driven by declines in the home appliances, apparel, and consumer electronics categories, all of which experienced a greater decrease in the month of October, the company reported.