Bed Bath & Beyond Swings to Loss After Layoffs

   By Micah Maidenberg

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) reported a loss for its latest quarter, reflecting in part severance costs the company paid after cutting jobs at its headquarters.

The company on Wednesday reported a loss of $138.8 million, or $1.12 a share, for its fiscal second quarter, down from a profit of $48.6 million, or 36 cents a share, the year earlier.

The retailer recorded impairments related to its transformation efforts and saw higher severance costs related to layoffs and its move to outsource certain functions. In July, the Union, N.J.-based company said it would reduce staff in its corporate office by 7%, letting vice presidents, managers and others go.

An inventory write-down also resulted in higher costs.

Bed Bath & Beyond has been searching for a new direction after missteps left revenue lower and shareholders unhappy about the company's strategy.

Former executives have said the company lacked a clear vision about how to compete in a retail sector upended by e-commerce. Bed Bath & Beyond had relied on coupons to draw shoppers and left stores cluttered and difficult for shoppers to navigate.

Overall, the company reported $2.72 billion in sales for its latest quarter, down 7% compared with last year and slightly lower than expectations from analysts polled by FactSet.

Excluding severance, inventory write-down and other costs, the company said it earned a profit of 34 cents a share, seven cents more than expectations.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 02, 2019 16:47 ET (20:47 GMT)

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