JCPenney comps drop 6.5%

PLANO, Texas JCPenney announced a comparable-store sales decrease of 6.5% for the four-week period ended Aug. 2, compared with the company’s guidance for sales to decrease mid-single digits. In last year’s July period, comparable-store sales increased 12%, largely driven by a calendar shift that moved sales for an important Back-To-School selling week from August into the July reporting period. Total company sales in the four-week July period decreased 4.9%.

Women’s apparel, family shoes and children’s were the top performing merchandise divisions in July, while fine jewelry and home experienced the weakest sales during the month. The northeast and central regions were the best performing regions, with the southeast and southwest continuing to experience softer sales during the month.

Management’s guidance for the four-week period ending Aug. 30 is for a mid-single digit decrease in comparable-store sales, compared to a 2.4% decrease during the same month last year.

Due to better-than-expected sell-through of promotionally-priced merchandise and continued expense management measures taken during the quarter as part of the company’s Bridge Plan, JCPenney now expects second-quarter earnings to be in the range of 50 to 52 cents per share, versus a previous guidance of approximately 38 cents per share.