In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the corporate owner, Sears Holdings Corporation, cited its efforts to cut costs, sell property, tap new funding sources and make other moves to stanch the flow of red ink. Still, it reported a $2.2bn loss for last year and said it had to use money from its investments and financing activities to fund operations.

“Our historical operating results indicate substantial doubt exists related to the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” it said in the filing, its annual report.

The disclosure is a setback for the company and for Edward S. Lampert, the hedge fund manager who engineered the combination of the two legends of American retail 13 years ago. Mr. Lampert has shut down stores, reshuffled the company’s organization and pushed to have a greater online presence. Still, Sears Holdings has lost more than $5bn over the last three years as sales have declined.

In the first day of trading after the disclosure, shares in the company tumbled more than 13 percent.

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