https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-23/reality-sets-in-at-lampert-s-sears-with-another-1-billion-due
The numbers tell the story. About $1 billion of Sears debt will come due within the year, according to the company’s latest results. It has promised pensions to about 100,000 retirees, but its plan was underfunded by $1.47 billion as of Feb. 28. Its bonds are trading well below face value, with some selling for less than 50 cents on the dollar -- a sign many investors doubt Sears will pay its debts in full. In the last eight years, Sears stock has plummeted about 95 percent. “This is a slow-motion liquidation that has gone on for several years, trying to extract cash out of it,” said Craig Johnson, head of research firm Customer Growth Partners. “If you keep going, Sears the retailer will end up with more liquidity that maybe buys it a few more quarters. But to what end, if all Sears is going to end up as is four walls, a roof and a parking lot?”
A spokesman for Sears declined to comment Monday beyond the earlier statement about ESL Investments.
Monday’s plan was Lampert’s latest attempt to put off what some analysts warn may be inevitable: a bankruptcy for the 125-year-old company, whose “Dream Book” catalog was once a fixture in many U.S. homes.