Brigade Capital Can’t Stop Buying Shares Of Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (BONT)

The company competes in the department store segment of the U.S. retail industry, which is considered a very competitive one. And considering the fact that U.S. retail sales unexpectedly dropped in June as households cut back on spending, it seems that Bon-Ton Stores’ outlook is not very positive. However, the company has been accompanied by positive news lately. At the end of the previous month, Bon-Ton Stores sold a portfolio of six retail properties to one of W. P. Carey Inc.’s non-traded real estate investment trusts for $84 million. The properties will be leased back to Bon-Ton, while the proceeds from the transaction will be used to pay off one of the two of Bon-Ton’s mortgage loan facilities, due in April 2016. The President and Chief Executive Officer of Bon-Ton, Kathryn Bufano, has also claimed that the company is seeking refinancing options for the second of the two mortgage facilities. Thus, Morgan could be quite a handy consultant for the company, considering his expertise and network in the sector. Nevertheless, the aforementioned deal is set to enhance the company’s financial flexibility, which will definitely increase the future prospects of Bon-Ton.

We’ll now take a glance at the financial performance of Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ:BONT) for the first fiscal quarter of 2015. The company posted net sales of $610.9 million in the period compared to $607.5 million reported in the same quarter a year ago, which yields an increase of 0.6% year-over-year. Additionally, Bon-Ton reported a net loss of $34.1 million or $1.74 per diluted share, compared to earnings of $31.5 million or $1.63 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2014. However, it is worth taking into account that the company’s business is subject to seasonal fluctuations, with the major portion of sales and income generated during the second half of each fiscal year. Therefore, the results for this quarter may not necessarily indicate or suggest the results that might be achieved for the full fiscal year. Bon-Ton also reaffirmed its fiscal guidance for earnings per diluted share, in a rather wide range of a loss of $0.25 to earnings of $0.25, based on the first quarter financial performance. In the meantime, David Warren’s DW Partners and Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors represent the largest shareholders in Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ:BONT) within our database as of March 31, holding 1.69 million shares and 698,397 shares, respectively. Brigade now ranks as the largest shareholder that we track based on the available data.

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