Sears Canada profit falls on weak electronics sales

(Reuters) - Department store chain Sears Canada Inc's fourth-quarter profit fell 3 percent on lower sales of hardware and home electronic goods.

Revenue at the company, which is struggling to turn around its business ahead of U.S. retailer Target Corp's Canadian launch this spring, fell 5 percent to C$1.29 billion ($1.25 billion).

Net earnings fell to C$39.9 million ($38.8 million), or 39 Canadian cents per share, from C$41 million, or 39 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.

Fourth-quarter profit included a pretax gain of C$29.7 million from the sale of a joint venture interest and a voluntary buyout program, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Adjusted EBIDTA fell 39 percent to C$62.4 million.

Parent Sears Holdings Corp , which cut its stake in Sears Canada to 51 percent from 90 percent in November, said in January that Sears Canada's fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA would fall by about half.

Sales at established stores, a key measure for retailers, fell 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter on lower sales of home electronics and snowblowers.

Sears Holding said in January that sales at the Canadian unit were affected by unseasonably warm temperatures in parts of Canada.

Rival retailer Canadian Tire Corp said last week same-store sales fell 1.1 percent due to the late onset of winter in Ontario and Quebec.

Canadian retail sales plunged 2.1 percent in December amid slumping new-car sales and a weak Christmas shopping season, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Department store sales fell 9.6 percent.

Sears Canada's shares closed at C$9.30 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

($1 = 1.0287 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Krithika Krishnamurthy in Bangalore; Editing by Don Sebastian)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sears-canada-profit-falls-weak-hardware-sales-120957546--sector.html

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