LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - US retailer Macy's Inc has tumbled into the red, after the Covid-19 lockdown wiped more than $2bn off quarterly sales.
The department store chain, which closed all its shops from mid-March in response to the pandemic, said that its financial statements for the first quarter were not yet complete.

However, it was able to provide preliminary highlights for the 13 weeks to 2 May, which showed a 45% collapse in net sales to $3.0bn. The net loss came in at $652m, against net income of $136m in 2019, while the adjusted diluted loss per share was $2.03, compared to last year's earnings per share of $0.44.

Jeff Gennette, chairman and chief executive, said: "The Covid-19 pandemic significantly impacted our first quarter sales and earnings results."

Looking ahead, however, Gennette said that the "strong" digital sales trend seen during the shutdown had continued through May, and that as at 1 June, 450 stores had been able to reopen.

"Our reopened sales are performing better than anticipated," he added. Macy's has a total of around 850 stores, operating under the Macy's and Bloomingdale's brands.

The results came a day after Macy's confirmed $4.5bn of new financing, consisting of a previously announced $1.3bn of senior secured notes and a new $3.15bn asset-backed credit agreement.

Gennette said the financing, which was announced after the market closed on Monday, provided Macy's with "sufficient flexibility and liquidity to navigate our current environment and fund our business for the foreseeable future".

Shares in Macy's jumped in pre-market trading, as investors welcomed the financing and news of the reopened stores. As at 1315 BST, the stock was ahead 10%.

The final first-quarter earnings will be published on 1 July. Macy's said that the final numbers would include the non-cash impact of goodwill and long-lived asset impairment charges, which were expected to have a "material impact" on the reported results.

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