HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears Holdings Corp. Thursday posted a wider fiscal second-quarter loss as sales declined for the 30th consecutive quarter.

Sears Holdings Corp. Thursday posted a wider fiscal second-quarter loss as sales declined for the 30th consecutive quarter.

Sears said its net loss expanded to $573 million, or $5.39 a share, from $194 million, or $1.83, a year earlier, as sales fell 9.7%.

Sears’ year-earlier results included Lands’ End, the clothing retailer Sears spun off in April.
In reporting the retailer’s ninth straight quarterly loss, company executives said they might shutter more than the 130 stores they were planning to close this year.

The company, parent of Sears department stores and the Kmart discount chain, is controlled by hedge fund billionaire Eddie Lampert, who characterized the second-quarter financial results as "unacceptable."

Lampert is trying to reverse the retailer’s slide by beefing up its digital and rewards programs. Loyalty-program members generated 73% of eligible sales in the quarter, the company said.

Lampert, Sears’ largest shareholder, took over as chief executive officer in February 2013 and has been under pressure to turn around the business. He has sold assets and sought to shrink the company’s store base as he seeks to halt a string of operating losses.

The company said it continues to explore a sale of its 51% stake in Sears Canada or the sale of the entire Canadian company.

Sales in the three months through August 2 dropped to $8.01 billion from $8.87 billion. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 0.1% at Sears and fell 1.7% at Kmart. Online sales rose 18% in the period.

Sears last week named former Tesco PLC executive Alasdair James to head the Kmart business.