Best Buy Profit Plunges, Suspends Guidance

by Christopher Freeburn | August 21, 2012 10:16 am

Things continue to get worse at Best Buy (NYSE:BBY[1]). The big box electronics and appliance retailer, which is in the middle of restructuring efforts, announced second-quarter results[2] on Thursday that sent its shares tumbling.

Earnings for the quarter plummeted to just $12 million, down 90% from $128 million last year, while revenue slipped to $10.55 billion, down 3% from 2011. That missed the $10.65 billion Wall Street expected, the Associated Press noted.

Adjusted EPS for the quarter was 20 cents, down from 34 cents last year, and well below the 31 cents analysts had forecast.

Shares of Best Buy tumbled more than 5% in early Tuesday trading.

Company officials noted that earnings were hurt by a combination of lower sales and charges related to its continuing restructuring effort. Weaker sales in China, Europe and Canada also hit earnings.  U.S. same-store sales fell 1.6%, while international same-store sales dropped 8.2% compared to last year.

Best Buy said that its was halting share repurchases and withdrew its earnings guidance for the year.

The results came on day after the retail chain tapped turnaround expert[3] Hubert Joly as its new CEO. He replaces Mike Mikan who stepped into the role on an interim basis after Brian Dunn was forced out in April over an improper relationship with an employee.

Not long after that, co-founder and chairman Richard Schulze was ousted after the company learned that he knew about Dunn’s relationship, but failed to advise the board. This month Schulze launched an $8.84 billion buyout bid for the struggling chain.

Best Buy rejected his offer over the weekend[4], saying he had failed to meet their requirements for continuing discussions.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/08/best-buy-profit-plunges-suspends-guidance/

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