Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. said Thursday that it has “substantial doubt” about its “ability to continue as a going concern,” as the company also disclosed that it expects to record lower sales for the latest quarter than analysts were anticipating.
Shares were down more than 17% in premarket trading.
Bed Bath
BBBY,
expects to report net sales of about $1.259 billion for the fiscal third quarter, compared with $1.878 billion in the year-before quarter. The lower sales reflect reduced customer traffic and inventory availability.
Analysts tracked by FactSet were anticipating $1.406 billion in sales.
The company also anticipates that it will report a $385.8 million net loss, compared with a $276.4 million loss a year prior. The latest loss figure reflects about $100.0 million in impairment charges.
Chief Executive Sue Gove said in a release that the company was impacted by inventory constraints in the quarter but that trends have improved since then.
“Reduced credit limits resulted in lower levels of in-stock presentation within the assortments that our customers expect,” she said. “Consequently, we have already leveraged the liquidity gained from the holiday season to immediately pursue higher in-stock levels with support from our key vendors.”
Bed Bath needs extra time to complete its quarter-end closing procedures and has filed a notice with the Securities and Exchange Commission of a late 10-Q.
Additionally, Bed Bath disclosed that while it “continues to pursue actions and steps to improve its cash position and mitigate any potential liquidity shortfall,” its results from the last nine months and financial projections lead executives to conclude “that there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
The release noted that Bed Bath “continues to consider all strategic alternatives including restructuring or refinancing its debt, seeking additional debt or equity capital, reducing or delaying the Company’s business activities and strategic initiatives, or selling assets, other strategic transactions and/or other measures, including obtaining relief under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.”
However: “These measures may not be successful.”