J. C. Penney Sales Rise - Update

(RTTNews) - J. C. Penney Company Inc. (JCP) Tuesday reported a rise in sales during the holiday season, as the struggling department store chain posted its first quarterly comps increase since 2011, reflecting the affects of its revamp.

J. C. Penney reported 3.1 percent growth in comparable store sales for the combined nine-week November and December period. Investors consider Comps an important measure of sales at established stores or stores open for at least a year.

For the full quarter, same store sales rose about 2 percent. This marks the first time since the second quarter of 2011 that the Plano, Texas-based store chain has recorded a positive quarterly sales result. Sales from the the company's website jcp.com grew about 26.3 percent over last year.

Strong holiday sales performance at many categories including beauty, activewear, sweaters, outerwear, dresses, boots, men's clothing, luggage and housewares categories helped the company report a positive sales.

Chief Executive Myron Ullman said, "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, our associates are encouraged by the Company's results and we remain steadfast in our focus to build on these achievements and return to profitable growth," Ullman added.

In mid-January, J. C. Penney had said it will close 33 under-performing stores and lay off 2,000 employees.

JCP is currently trading at $5.73, up $0.05 or 0.88%, on a volume of 17 million shares, on the New York Stock Exchange.