By MICHELLE CHAPMAN
Bed Bath & Beyond’s fiscal third-quarter gross sales fell by a 3rd as the house items firm struggles to strike the suitable steadiness with its buyers, an indication of its worsening outlook.
The firm, which has already been slicing prices, stated Tuesday it should slash an extra $80 million to $100 million throughout the corporate, together with an unspecified variety of layoffs.
Last week, Bed Bath & Beyond cautioned that it could must file for chapter safety because it struggles to draw buyers. It then stated that it’s contemplating choices together with promoting belongings or restructuring its enterprise in chapter courtroom. But the chain acknowledged that even these efforts is probably not profitable.
Sales slid 33% to $1.26 billion for the three months ended Nov. 26 from $1.88 billion a yr earlier. Sales at shops open no less than a yr, a key gauge of a retailer’s well being, dropped 32%.
Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research anticipated greater income of $1.43 billion.
The firm can be burning by way of money. It reported roughly $153 million in money and money equivalents within the newest quarter, a steep drop from $509 million within the year-ago interval.
While the quarterly efficiency was not a shock given Bed Bath & Beyond’s replace on its outcomes final week, Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, stated in assertion that it’s nonetheless a little bit of a shock and solely provides to issues about Bed Bath & Beyond’s survival.
“A third of revenue has vanished, plunging an already beleaguered company into the depths of chaos,” he stated.
President and CEO Sue Gove stated in a ready assertion on Tuesday that the corporate is engaged on adjusting its merchandise and technique, which has moved away from buyers’ preferences.
“We want our customers to know that we hear them and are charging ahead every day to meet their needs,” she stated.
The retailer misplaced $393 million, or $4.33 per share, within the quarter. That compares with a lack of $276.4 million, or $2.78 a yr earlier.
Stripping out sure objects, its adjusted loss was $3.65 per share. Wall Street was calling for a lack of $2.36 per share.
Bed Bath & Beyond introduced in August that it might shut shops and lay off employees in a bid to show round its enterprise. It introduced it might shut about 150 of its namesakes shops and slashed its workforce by 20%. The firm stated Tuesday that it was on monitor to shut the shops.
Saunders will not be optimistic about the way forward for the retailer.
“In our view, Bed Bath & Beyond has completely lost control and is in a tailspin; and with the ground fast approaching, survival now looks unlikely,” he stated.
Shares of the Union, New Jersey-based firm jumped 24% to $2.02 in afternoon buying and selling.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”
