JC Penney Monthly Sales in-Line

J. C. Penney Company Inc. (JCP - Analyst Report) a leading retailer of apparel and footwear, accessories, fashion jewelry, beauty products and home furnishings – recently reported sales results for the four-week period ended August 29, 2009.

The company’s comparable-store sales for the month of August dipped 7.9% compared to a 4.9% decline reported in the same month last year. Comps were well within the company’s guidance range of a 6% to 9% decline predicted earlier.

Year-to-date, comps slid 8.4% compared to a fall of 5.7% posted in the same period last year. J. C. Penney expects comparable store sales to dip in the range of 3% to 6% for the month of September 2009 compared to a 12.4% decline reported for September 2008.

By categories, home furnishings were the weakest during the month. Driving sales were the women’s and children's apparel divisions.

Sales for August declined 5.6% to $1,428 million from $1,513 million reported in the same month last year. Year-to-date, sales were down 6.7% to $9,255 million from $9,922 million reported in the same period last year.

J. C. Penney currently operates 1,106 department stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company also operates the largest apparel and home furnishing site, jcp.com, and the largest general merchandise catalog business.

Read the full analyst report on JCP