JC Penney same-store sales in December rise 2.2%

Posted Jan 5th 2007 3:10PM by Brian White
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Products and Services, Competitive Strategy, Penney (J.C.) (JCP)

More retail same-store sales results came in this week, and retailer J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) stated yesterday that same-stores sales rose 2.6% in December. The hot categories in December during the holiday shopping season were, not surprisingly, children's merchandise, fine jewelry and fashion jewelry.

Shares of JCP were mixed this morning as the retailer's results for December beat analyst expectations of 2.4%, and Penneys also beat the year-ago same-store sales growth amount of 2.2%, which it reported in January of 2006.

Penneys also said that seasonal and gift categories like home entertainment also contributed to solid gains i December. Regarding January predictions, the retailer indicated that a low-single-digit rise in same-store sales in January would occur, and that it expects direct sales to be down slightly compared with a 4.3% growth rate in the year-ago period.

Tags: J.C. Penney, J.c.Penney, JC Penneys, JCP, JcPenneys