iMedia will sell three of its buildings in order to raise $48 million as the Eden Prairie-based TV and online retail company expects customers to scale back spending. It also announced it was ending its relationship with former pro basketball player Shaquille O'Neal.
"Tough economic conditions increasingly distract consumers; therefore, our priority is to ensure we strengthen our balance sheet and build our core businesses to serve our customers," said Tim Peterman, iMedia's chief executive officer, in a news release.
The company will lease back the buildings in the deal it expects to close before the end of January.
The deal is part of a debt-reduction plan announced in February. That plan, Peterman said, is ahead of schedule.
The company saw its losses widen to $21.3 million, or 72 cents a share, in the August-to-October quarter, according to results released on Tuesday. Sales decreased 6% to $123.3 million from the same quarter a year ago.
The loss of 72 cents in the current quarter badly missed expectations. The consensus estimate for the current quarter according to four analysts tracked by Refinitiv was for a loss of 32 cents a share. In the same quarter a year ago, the company lost $9.5 million, or 44 cents a share.
As part of the company's capital allocation plan, iMedia has been selling or shutting down smaller online marketplaces in its ShopHQ business. Peterman told analysts on the company's earnings call that as part of that process, the company is ending a deal with Shaquille O'Neal for a one-hour cooking show signed in 2019.
By ending the deal, iMedia incurred a onetime noncash charge of $10 million.
The company said its customer counts, a key measure, have increased for the seventh consecutive quarter. It also said it resolved a disagreement with Dish Network that had the ShopHQ home shopping channel off the TV service for the past six months.
But officials said the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends Jan. 23, will be challenging. Fourth quarter sales could decline 9% from last year.
iMedia is facing a delisting from the Nasdaq stock exchange. In mid October, the exchange sent the company a notice saying iMedia was out of compliance with minimum listing standards after the company's shares traded below $1 since Sept. 1.
Shares of iMedia closed on Friday at 58 cents a share, down 3.8%.
