JCPenney Q1 earnings to be in range of $0.75 to $0.80 per share

28 Mar '08

2 min read

J. C. Penney Company Inc revised its first quarter sales and earnings guidance to reflect incremental weakness in the consumer spending environment. With sales through the Easter holiday well below expectations, JCPenney is now guiding to a low-double digit comparable store sales decline for March and a high-single digit decline for the first quarter.

Accordingly, first quarter earnings are now expected to be approximately $0.50 per share. The Company's previous guidance was for both March and first quarter sales to decline low-single digits and first quarter earnings to be in the range of $0.75 to $0.80 per share.

"Consumer confidence is at a multi-year low," said Myron E. (Mike) Ullman, III, chairman and chief executive officer of JCPenney. "JCPenney counts half of American families as its customers, and they are feeling macro-economic pressures from many areas, including higher energy costs, deteriorating employment trends and significant issues in the housing and credit markets.

The sharp decline in sales is reflective of these trends. While the economic stimulus package may provide some temporary benefit, we expect the continuation of a difficult environment over the course of 2008. As a result, our management team is focused on enhancing the customer experience and finding additional opportunities in both our merchandising and expense management to best position the Company to benefit when a recovery takes hold."

J. C. Penney Company Inc

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