Sears profit falls on weak sales at namesake unit

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sears Holdings Corp , led by hedge fund manager Edward Lampert, reported a lower quarterly profit on tepid sales at its namesake retail chain.

The company, which on Wednesday named a former technology executive as CEO after a three-year search, said sales at its U.S. stores open at least a year fell 1.2 percent, with those at its namesake department stores down 4.5 percent.

Sears faces stiff competition from mass merchants such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Target Corp , especially in areas like electronics.

While the Sears chain has been losing market share in appliances and apparel, Kmart has managed to keep some budget-conscious U.S. shoppers. In the quarter, Kmart's same-store sales rose 2.5 percent.

Net income fell to $374 million, or $3.43 a share, in the fourth quarter ended on January 29, from $430 million, or $3.74 a share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Sears earned $3.67 a share.

Analysts have criticized the retailer for relying too heavily on cost-cutting rather than improving its merchandise mix and customer service.

Sales fell about 0.8 percent to $13.14 billion, but beat the analysts' average estimate of $12.97 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

On Wednesday, the company's Canadian unit, Sears Canada Inc reported a 28 percent drop in quarterly earnings, mainly because of tepid demand for appliances.

Also on Wednesday, Sears named former Avaya Inc CEO Lou D'Ambrosio as chief executive officer. He succeeds Bruce Johnson, who had operated as interim CEO since 2008.

(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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