(Bloomberg) -- Victoria’s Secret is closing almost a quarter of its North American stores network, another blow for U.S. malls already reeling from the pandemic lockdown as the lingerie chain grapples with changing consumer tastes and financial challenges.Parent company L Brands Inc. said in its earnings report that it will close 251 stores by the end of this year, accounting for about 23% of its domestic locations.More store closures could happen in the coming years, Victoria’s Secret interim Chief Executive Officer Stuart Burgdoerfer said on a call with analysts on Thursday. L Brands is also set to close 51 stores of its other brand, Bath & Body Works.The company expects Victoria’s Secret stores will reopen by the end of July. The shares rose as much as 18% in New York trading, based on strong results at Bath & Body Works.Victoria’s Secret joins other retailers in permanently closing some of its stores that went dark due to the pandemic. J.C. Penney on Monday said it would close more than a quarter of its stores. Nordstrom Inc. has said it will close 16 full-line stores and its three Jeffrey boutiques.Victoria’s Secret has started to reopen a small set of locations and initial signs are strong, L Brands’ new CEO Andrew Meslow said on a call with investors on Thursday.Early signs from retailers like Macy’s Inc. and Kohl’s Corp that have begun reopening locations shows that stores’ sales volume are at about half of what’s normal.But at Bath & Body Works, sales at reopened stores has been in line with what the company was seeing before the mass shutdown on March 17. That’s with the caveat, of course, that the initial store base is a small sample size of 23 stores, Meslow said, with all being outside the mall and located in Ohio.(Updates share trading and adds new information on store and retail closures.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Guru releases portfolio for the first quarter of 2020 Continue reading...

Shares of retail-chain operator L Brands (NYSE: LB) were sharply higher on Thursday, after the company reported a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss and said that it will follow through on separating its troubled Victoria's Secret chain into a stand-alone company. As of 12:15 p.m. EDT, L Brands' shares were trading up about 16.2% from Wednesday's closing price. Consumer-discretionary investors were bidding up L Brands' shares on Thursday after the company said during its quarterly earnings call that it will go forward with its plan to separate its Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret chains into separate companies.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 20, 2020 -- L Brands, Inc. (NYSE: LB) today reported first quarter results. On May 4, 2020, the company outlined its go-forward strategy to drive long-term.

L Brands announced its first-quarter results after hours on Wednesday, missing on both top and bottom lines. The company offered no guidance for the next quarter but did solidify that it will follow through on its plans to separate Victoria Secret from Bath and Body works. Yahoo Finance’s Jared Blikre breaks down the retailers earnings report on The Final Round.

L Brands' (LB) first-quarter fiscal 2020 results were dismal on stores closures implemented in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The company calls off forward guidance.

L Brands still plans to separate Bath & Body Works into a standalone company, and is closing Victoria’s Secret stores in preparation.

Q1 2020 L Brands Inc Earnings Call

Victoria’s Secret parent company L Brands reported a 37% drop in sales in its first-quarter earnings report. Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi joins the On The Move panel to discuss how retailers are faring during the virus outbreak.

The coronavirus hit retailers hard, causing businesses to file for bankruptcy across the world. Peter Kaufman, Gordian Group President joins Yahoo Finance’s On The Move panel to weigh in on the differences between chapter 7 and chapter 11 bankruptcy.

L Brands Inc. shares fell 1% in the extended session Wednesday after the retailer reported a wider-than-expected loss in the first quarter and said it remained "committed" to spinning off its Bath & Body Works business. L Brands said it lost $297 million, or $1.07 a share, in the quarter, versus earnings of $40.3 million, or 14 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, L Brands lost 99 cents a share, versus earnings of 14 cents a share a year ago. Sales fell to $1.7 billion from $2.6 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to report an adjusted loss of 67 cents a share on sales of $1.8 billion. Nearly all of the company's stores have been closed since March 17 due to the pandemic, the retailer said. The company said it remained on track to establish Bath & Body Works as a pure-play public company and that it was "taking the necessary steps to prepare" its Victoria's Secret lingerie, Victoria's Secret beauty, and Pink businesses to operate as a standalone company. A deal with a private-equity firm fell through earlier this month amid the economic downturn caused by the coronavrius pandemic. L Brands did not provide guidance, pining that lack onto the "high level of uncertainty." Shares of L Brands had ended the regular trading day down 2.3%.

Victoria's Secret parent L Brands announces plans to shutter more 250 stores, and could close even more.

The global case tally for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 passed 5 million on Thursday after the biggest one-day increase since the start of the outbreak, as a top U.S. scientist cautioned that people should not rely on a vaccine and the labor market continued to show massive job losses.

Reports that China plans a new a national security law for Hong Kong are just the latest sign that relations between the U.S. and China continue to deteriorate.

Victoria's Secret's losses continue to plague parent company L Brands (NYSE: LB). L Brands' portfolio includes Victoria's Secret and its sister brand, Pink, as well as Bath and Body Works. In the first quarter of 2020, Bath and Body Works comps increased 41% while Victoria's Secret comps fell 13%.

L Brands plans on closing 250 Victoria's Secret stores this year

Post coronavirus it's all about location. Location, Location.

L Brands (LB) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of -39.44% and -2.89%, respectively, for the quarter ended April 2020. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?

Net sales for L Brands, which owns such brands as Bath & Body Works and struggling Victoria’s Secret, were $1.65 billion for the quarter ending May 2, compared to $2.6 billion in the year-ago quarter.

No news is good news for the U.S. stock market, as indexes push higher following Tuesday’s losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has advanced 310.67 points, or 1.3%, while the S&P 500 has risen 1.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite has gained 1.7%. What I don’t yawn at is the fact that the S&P 500 keeps finding ways to make higher highs and lower lows, despite what big daily moves that have a tendency to leave my head spinning.