J.C. Penney Q1 profit drops

Plano, Texas Despite keeping a tighter reign on operating costs and inventory levels, J.C. Penney said Friday that profits dropped to $25 million for the fiscal first quarter, ended May 2, compared with $120 million for the same period last year.

The department store chain’s sales slipped almost 6% to $3.88 billion, and same-store sales dropped 7.5%.

“We expect consumer spending and mall traffic to remain weak,” said Myron (Mike) Ullman III, chairman and CEO.

The company has revised second-quarter expectations, projecting a sales decrease of 7% to 10%, and a same-store sales drop of 9% to 12%.