HOFFMAN ESTATES (dpa-AFX) - Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) said it expect total revenues of $7.3 billion for the fourth quarter and $25.1 billion for the full-year of 2015. Total comparable store sales for fourth quarter were down 7.1%, while it was down 9.2% in 2015. The company noted that it will accelerate the closing of unprofitable stores, including, but not limited to, roughly 50 stores that it recently announced would be closing in the next few months.
It expects that its fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA, excluding Seritage and joint venture rents, will range between negative $50 million and negative $100 million and, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $125 million in the fourth quarter of 2014.
It also intends to continue to evaluate and optimize cost structure, including optimizing store-level marketing expenditures and overall staffing levels, and it will be taking action to reduce our fixed costs, and to improve our inventory management and gross margin realization.
The company expects to report year-over-year expense reductions of between $135 million and $155 million for the fourth quarter of 2015, and for the full year, it expects expenses will decline by between $765 million and $790 million versus the prior year.
Looking toward 2016, the company plans to take actions that will further reduce its costs by between $550 million and $650 million, depending on the overall volume of sales.
The company noted that it significantly reduced its net debt (including unfunded pension and post-retirement benefit obligations) by approximately $1.0 billion compared to year-end 2014.
In addition to the expense actions and store closing actions, it will be targeting at least $300 million of other asset sales during the first half of fiscal year 2016.
The company stated that it will continue to consider its overall capital structure and liquidity position with a goal of creating long-term value and funding transformation. This may include near-term actions to bolster liquidity given the flexibility it has to raise up to $1.0 billion under the accordion feature in credit facility, up to $500 million of FILO capacity and up to $2.0 billion of 2nd lien capacity, all depending on the applicable and available borrowing base as defined in our credit agreement.
Actions may also include borrowings under our $750 million short-term basket as permitted under the credit agreement and may include real estate backed financings to secure either short-term or long-term borrowings.
The company anticipates an estimated impairment related to the Sears trade name of between $150 million and $200 million. The non-cash accounting charge will not impact the Company's liquidity, cash flows or compliance with debt covenants.
The company currently plans to release financial results for its fiscal 2015 fourth quarter on or about February 25, 2016, before the market opens.
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