Retail chain operator J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP) announced Thursday morning that comparable store sales for the month of December declined 8.1%, with a 6.8% decline in total sales. For January, the company expects a low-double digit decrease in comparable store sales.
The Plano, Texas based company's December comparable store sales declined 8.1%, while in the prior-year comparable store sales decreased 7.3%. The company's guidance was for comparable store sales to decrease in the low-double digits.
For the month of November, J.C. Penney posted a 11.9% drop in comparable store sales, while its guidance was a decrease in low-double digits.
Comparable store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are a key indicator of retailer performance as it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.
Total sales for December were down 6.8% at $2.96 billion from $3.18 billion in the same period a year ago.
Geographically, the best performing areas of the country was the central and southwest regions. Women's apparel and accessories as well as family shoes continued to be the strongest performers for J.C. Penney, offset by softness in sales performance in the fine jewelry divisions.
The company noted that it took aggressive promotional pricing action across all channels, resulting in sales growth during the week leading up to Christmas and for the remainder of the month, partially offsetting weaker performance earlier in the period. The company's comparable store sales were also boosted by an increase in sales through its Internet channel jcp.com.
Among others in the industry, Kohl's Corp. (KSS) reported a 3.6% decrease in total sales for December, and a 1.4% decline in comparable store sales. Retail chain Macy's, Inc. (M), reported a 4.0% decline in same-store sales, with a 4.7% decrease in total sales.
For the 9-week quarter-to-date period, J.C. Penney's total company sales fell 8.6% to $4.78 billion from $5.23 billion in the year-ago period. Comparable store sales for the period declined 9.6%.
Total company sales for the year-to-date 48-week period were $17.50 billion, down 6.4% from $18.70 billion in the year-earlier period. Meanwhile, comparable store sales decreased 8.0% for the year-to-date period.
Looking ahead, the company expects comparable store sales for the month of January 2009 to decline in the low-double digits. In last year's January period, comparable store sales were flat.
In Thursday's regular trading session, JCP is currently trading at $21.31, down $0.19 or 0.88% on a volume of 2.20 million shares. In the past 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a broad range of $13.95 to $51.42.
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