J. C. Penney Nine-week Comps. Up 3.1% - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - J. C. Penney Company Inc. (JCP) provided a preliminary update on its sales performance during the holiday and fiscal fourth-quarter periods. For the combined, nine-week November and December period, the company reported comparable store sales growth of 3.1 percent over the same period last year. For the full quarter, comparable store sales, which exclude the 53rd week of fiscal 2012, rose approximately 2.0 percent.

The company said, for the holiday period, it reported solid performance in several categories including, beauty (Sephora), activewear, sweaters, outerwear, dresses, boots, men's clothing, luggage and housewares.

"While 2013 brought a lot of change and challenges to JCPenney, the steady improvements in our business show that the company's turnaround is on track. As we look ahead to 2014, we remain steadfast in our focus to build on these achievements and return to profitable growth," said Myron Ullman, III, CEO of JCPenney.