Service Merchandise Completes Successful 1999 Holiday Selling Season
NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 6, 2000--
Announces Preliminary 1999 Business Plan Results; Surpasses 9-Month
Targeted Continuing EBITDAR of $35 Million
Company Seeks Further Extension of Exclusive Plan Period Consistent
with Strategic Reorganization Timeline For 2000 Holdiay Season
Service Merchandise Company, Inc. (OTCBB:SVCDQ) announced today that it has successfully completed its 1999 holiday season and, subject to physical inventory results and other normal year-end adjustments, should substantially exceed the benchmark targets established in its 1999 Business Plan. Having surpassed the commitments forecasted to its creditors during 1999 and consistent with its strategic reorganization timeline developed and announced in the first quarter of 1999, Service Merchandise said it is seeking a further extension of the period in which the Company has the exclusive right to file or advance a plan of reorganization in its Chapter 11 case through the 2000 holiday season.
In a motion filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court in Nashville on Wednesday and presently set for hearing on January 25, 2000, the Company seeks an extension of the plan proposal period through and including April 30, 2001 and an extension of the Company's exclusive right to solicit acceptances of its plan through and including June 30, 2001. The Company has proposed that its Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors have an opportunity to request that the Court reevaluate the proposed extension in May 2000 following the formal presentation of Service Merchandise's Year 2000 Business Plan in March 2000.
"The extension will provide Service Merchandise the opportunity to complete, present and implement its 2000 Business Plan, assess the results of the Plan and formulate, propose, solicit acceptances of and confirm a reorganization plan prior to the original termination date of its $750 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing agreement in June 2001," said Chief Executive Officer Sam Cusano.
"From the outset of our reorganization cases, the Company's goal has been to first stabilize Service Merchandise's business operations
-- including marketing, merchandising, store operations, E-commerce and other distribution channels -- in 1999 and then formulate a 2000 Business Plan which, if successful, should be the basis for the Company's successful emergence from Chapter 11 in 2001. Stabilization of the business is only the first step of a reorganization, however, we recognize that many challenges lie ahead before Service Merchandise can return to long-term growth and profitability," Mr. Cusano said.
"While final year-end results will not be reported until the year-end closing process is completed at the end of this month, we are pleased to report that the Company has met each of its primary 1999 goals and substantially exceeded target EBITDAR (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and restructuring charges) for continuing store operations during the nine months ended December 31, 1999 of approximately $35 million." He noted that the targeted EBITDAR represents an approximate $7 million improvement in performance over the same 1998 nine-month period on a comparable store basis.
Based on preliminary financial information, the Company's December 1999 sales exceeded $500 million while gross margin exceeded the Plan by more than $5 million. More than $7 million customer transactions took place at Service Merchandise during the December holiday period.
Mr. Cusano noted that liquidity remained strong in 1999, with more than $150 million of excess availability maintained under the Company's DIP financing agreement throughout the course of the reorganization cases to date, and that the Company expected to have more than $250 million of excess availability in January 2000. Actual vendor support (e.g. accounts payable) exceeded the Plan by $34 million or 43 percent during peak inventory requirements in late October and early November. Out-of-stock inventory occurrences (including in-transit shipments) were reduced from 14 percent at the commencement of the Chapter 11 cases to 2 percent entering into the Christmas selling season.
"The holiday selling season was the critical test for Service Merchandise, and the Company's efforts at the store and corporate levels combined with the support of our lender, vendors and customers have resulted in strong December sales performance," said President and Chief Operating Officer Charles Septer.
"During the past year, the Company has improved vendor and customer relations, refocused its merchandising mix, re-established its private label credit card program, and completed successful store rationalization, asset disposition and cost reduction programs. Combined with other significant achievements during 1999, we believe Service Merchandise is well-positioned to formulate the 2000 Business Plan and implement a successful reorganization strategy consistent with our original timetable," Mr. Cusano said.
Service Merchandise and its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville on March 27, 1999. The Company presented its 1999 Plan to its principal lenders, vendors and other creditors in Nashville on July 14, 1999. The 2000 Plan is presently scheduled for similar presentation on March 21, 2000 in Nashville. |
