Key sections and financial performance factors in Sears Holdings annual report

Sears Holdings

When most people think of Sears Holding, they will often associate it with the company's retail and online outlets under the Sears brand name. While this is true, they own other assets including: Kmart and Lands End. Moreover, the firm is also involved in the sales and service of large appliances. This means that the way they are reporting their earnings must incorporate numerous factors into these figures. ("Sears Holdings," 2013) ("Sears Holdings," 2012)

To fully understand what is happening requires looking at the annual report. During this process, there will be a focus on: identifying / explaining the main sections, discussing key factors which influenced the company's performance, the primary assets held by the firm and how management characterizes the internal control environment. Together, these elements will highlight their long-term challenges and opportunities. ("Sears Holdings," 2013) ("Sears Holdings," 2012)

Identify and explain the main sections of the annual report.

Sears holding has divided their annual report into a number of sections. The most notable include: the business, shareholder matters, operations, executive / director related issues and exhibits / financial schedules. The business is focusing on issues impacting the firm and its operating environment. It is describing how the economy and other challenges are affecting the company over the last year. Shareholder matters are discusses the way the firm is using the working capital they receive from investors to increase their returns. At the same time, it is talking about if they had any kind of new stock or debt offerings. ("Sears Holdings," 2012)

The operations are focusing on the financial strength of the company and their ability to deal with the various issues they are facing in the current business environment. Executive / director related issues are looking at compensation and how Sears Holdings is impacted by them. Exhibits / financial schedules is concentrating on the firm's reporting standards, the way various figures were derived and other information which is not included in the rest of the annual report. ("Sears Holdings," 2012)

Discuss the key factors that influenced the company's financial performance during the year.

The various factors which impacted Sears Holdings performance over the last year include: a highly competitive retail environment, stagnant consumer spending and changing relationships with vendors. A highly competitive retail environment means that the company had to engage in discounting in order to attract a large segment of consumers. Stagnant spending resulted in the firm engaging in strategies such as: spinning off their Hometown and Outlet segments in order to raise more working capital. Changing relationships with vendors is when they are making it more difficult to extend lines of credit to the firm and requiring a different payment structure. These elements are illustrating how Sears Holdings is dealing with a number of areas that will have an effect on their operations and bottom line results. ("Sears Holdings," 2012)

Discuss the primary assets held by the company.

Sears has a large amount of assets that it is holding onto. The most notable include: real estate, different brands names of well established firms, a service business and operations in Canada. These areas are important, as they are helping to provide the firm with a number of assets and access to various segments of the consumer marketplace. Evidence of this can be seen with the fact that the company is holding onto a total of $19.34 billion in assets as of February 2013. ("Sears Holdings," 2012)