Massive decline

Sears Holdings of the United States have announced their figures for the first six months of 2008. Sales are 4.9 per cent down to US $ 22.830 bn (€ 15.832 bn) and net earnings have slipped by 97.7 per cent to US $ 9 mio (€ 6.2 mio). The group reports sales of US $ 11.762 bn (€ 8.157 bn) for the second quarter, which amounts to a 4.1 per cent drop compared with last year. Comparable domestic sales – Sears also operates stores in Canada – went down by 6.2 per cent. Net earnings dropped overall by 62.4 per cent to US $ 65 mio (€ 45 mio).