J.C. Penney's Quarterly Sales Rise Due to Higher Home, Sephora Sales

NEW YORK, United States — Department store operator J.C. Penney Co Inc reported a better-than-expected quarterly revenue, helped by strong sales at it its Home, Sephora, Footwear and Handbags divisions.

Sales for the quarter rose 2.5 percent to $4 billion.

The company's quarterly same-store sales rose 4.1 percent, in line with expectations of analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix.

J.C. Penney said it expects 2016 comparable sales to increase 3 percent to 4 percent and adjusted earnings to be positive.

The company said in January that sales at stores open 12 months rose 3.9 percent in November and December, helped by strong online sales and its private brands.

This was in contrast to sales reports from rivals Macy's Inc , Kohl's Corp and Nordstrom Inc , that said unseasonably warm weather in November and December hurt sales of cold weather goods in the holiday quarter.

J.C. Penney reported a loss of $131 million, or 43 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, compared with a loss of $35 million, or 11 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned 39 cents per share.

Analysts on an average had expected earnings of 23 cents per share on revenue of $3.99 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares of the company rose 25.5 percent to $8.36 this year.

By Rishika Sadam and Sruthi Ramakrishnan; editors: Gopakumar Warrier and Sunil Nair.