Sears Holdings (SHLD -0.9%) is newly warning about its ability to remain a going concern, pointing to historical results that called for such a warning around this time based on new accounting standards.
In its annual report filed this afternoon, Sears says "substantial doubt exists" with regard to its ability to continue, though it thinks liquidity-related actions (including selling the Craftsman brand) will mitigate that doubt.
In its 2015 report, the company noted a FASB update to accounting standards from August 2014 that called for additional going-concern disclosures, and that that update would kick in for Sears in the first quarter of 2017.
Sears also pointed to the pension plan protection and forbearance agreement ("PPPFA") that it reached with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. The PBGC consented to Sears' sale of its Craftsman-related assets, which had been "ring-fenced" under the agreement.
"In addition, the PPPFA contains certain limitations on our ability to sell assets, which could impact our ability to complete asset sale transactions or our ability to use proceeds from those transactions to fund our operations," the company notes in its 10-K.