Boston, MA 02/06/2014 (wallstreetpr) – J.C. Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) fourth quarter same sales estimates did not reach analysts’ estimates resulting the steepest decline over a period of more than four months. The company’s biggest fall since Sept 27 was reported as it closed at $5.08 in trading at New York yesterday. The shares fell 11% making it loose by 74% in one year.
Re-entering the market
The Plano, Texas based company reported rise in sales at locations open at least one year of almost 2% in the fiscal fourth quarter, which runs through Jan. On this, an analyst at Imperial Capital LLC in Los Angeles, Mary Ross Gilbert has to say that J.C. Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) demonstrates how challenging it is for a company to regain lost shares in this competitive market. Nevertheless, the positive increase of sales still highlights the company’s continuous efforts. Chief Executive Officer Mike Ullman’s strategy of bringing back popular brands and sale events has really paid off. The former CEO Ron Johnson’s decision had impacted the sales adversely while undoing his moves has led the company to report its first same-store sales profit since the quarter ended July 2011. A year earlier, the company had faced a 32% fall in same-store sales.
Holiday season sales
As forecasted, J.C. Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) has ended the quarter with around $2 billion in liquidity. Its full fourth quarter results will be released on Feb 26. Most of the department-store chain’s sales profit was incurred in the holiday season when retailers ha to offer huge discounts to attract shoppers. Although the company declined to give any information on sales in December, it had commented that it was satisfied with its holiday performance. J.C. Penney said yesterday, that the strongest selling categories during the holiday season were beauty products, winterwear, boots, dresses and activewear.
CEO’s fixes
J.C. Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) had shared its plan of shutting down as many as 33 stores and cut down almost 2,000 jobs last month. This is an effort the company is taking in trying to save $65 million per year and the stuttering down of stores represent a cut of 3% of its total stores. At the same time, the job cuts would mean 2% reduction in workforce. The company reported it would accomplish its targeted store closings by early May.
As of now, CEO Ullman is trying to raise capital to revive the retailer’s treasury after the series of losses at the retailer since 2011. Since April, he has managed $850 million from a revolving credit facility and with the Goldman Sachs Group Inc loan of $2.25 billion in cash and 84 million worth of shares, Ullman has in all managed generating $785 million after fees.
