J.C. Penney Co Inc reported a smaller-than-expected fall in quarterly profit after the mid-tier department store operator helped offset falling sales with tight control on expenses.
But the retailer said that with “no clear indication that the consumer environment will improve during 2008,” it has taken a conservative approach to planning its business.
Penney’s profit fell to $430 million, or $1.93 per share, for its fiscal fourth quarter ended February 2, from $477 million, or $2.09 per share, a year earlier.
Earlier this month, it forecast fourth-quarter earnings to be at the high end of its original range of $1.65 to $1.80 per share. Analysts, on average, were expecting it to earn $1.77 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Penney faced lagging sales during the all-important holiday quarter as its middle-income shoppers grappled with the U.S. housing market slowdown, high food and fuel prices, and an uncertain economic picture.
Its sales at stores open at least a year, a key retail gauge known as same-store sales, fell in December and January.
For the quarter, total sales fell more than 4 percent to $6.39 billion from $6.66 billion.
Penney said its expects first-quarter total sales to ”increase slightly,” with full-year total sales rising in the low-single digit range.
It forecast first-quarter earnings per share of 75 cents to 80 cents, and full-year earnings of $3.75 to $4.00 per share.
Analysts, on average, had been expecting it to earn 81 cents per share in the first quarter and $4.02 for the full year, according to Reuters Estimates.