JC Penney: Same-store Sales Improved; Sees Year-end Liquidity More Than $2 Bln

(RTTNews) - J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) said Tuesday that it saw improved same-store sales trends in fiscal September, and expects this to continue throughout the remainder of the year. Sales for the fiscal month of September, ended October 5, were down 4.0% when compared to September 2012. This constitutes a 580 basis point improvement over August 2013.

The company said it now expects that its year-end liquidity to be in excess of $2 billion, taking into account the net proceeds of approximately $785 million from the offering, as well as the previously disclosed expectation of $1.3 billion of year-end liquidity including the undrawn portion of the Company's credit facility.

Last week, the company closed a public offering of 84 million shares of common stock that generated approximately $785 million in net cash proceeds.