Big Lots losses continue to widen

Big Lots, an American home furnishing retailer, continued to decline in the second quarter of fiscal 2023, which ended on July 29.

According to the financial report, the net sales of Big Lots in the second quarter of the fiscal year were US$1.139 billion, a decrease of 15.4% from US$1.346 billion in the same period last year. At the same time, the loss continued to increase, with a loss as high as 249.8 million US dollars. It has lost more than 200 million US dollars for two consecutive quarters, and the total half-year loss was 455 million US dollars.

Big Lots once attributed the loss in the first quarter to the out-of-stocks caused by the sudden closure of major furniture suppliers, and the impact of inflation on the purchasing power of the company's main customer groups. Bruce Thorn, the company's president and chief executive officer, said: "The second quarter results demonstrate that the company remains in a very challenging environment, and the company's core low-income customers continue to face significant pressure, limiting their appetite for high-priced discretionary items. purchasing power". According to Bruce Thorn, Big Lots showed some continued signs of improvement during the quarter, with all key metrics of the company in line with expectations.

He said that the company has taken some key measures to reduce commodity prices, improve store interaction, strengthen omni-channel sales and improve efficiency, and these measures have paid off.

Big Lots has set an internal cost reduction goal of more than US$100 million, and has taken measures such as closing four distribution centers to reduce sales and management expenses. In addition, the company hired a professional consulting firm to further reduce costs. The company expects to bring in $200 million in revenue by reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

For the first half of the fiscal year, Big Lots' net losses totaled $455 million. Big Lots still says it has enough cash flow to get the company through the current difficult period. Big Lots ended the quarter with $258 million in cash flow. In May of this year, Big Lots sold the real estate of 26 stores and 1 distribution center in California in the form of sale and leaseback, in exchange for nearly 300 million U.S. dollars in cash, which will arrive in August. The company also once considered selling the company's headquarters real estate.

The company believes that the situation of Big Lots will slowly improve in the second half of this year as the effects of various measures taken gradually become apparent. "We're counting on the strong support of our employees and our supplier partners," said Bruce Thorn, the company's president and CEO.