J. C. PENNEY COMPANY, INC. REPORTS 2013 FISCAL FIRST QUARTER RESULTS
PLANO, Texas, May 16, 2013 -- J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) today announced financial results for its fiscal first quarter ended May 4, 2013. For the quarter, jcpenney reported a net loss of $348 million or $1.58 per share. Excluding restructuring and management transition charges and non-cash primary pension plan expense, adjusted net loss for the quarter was $289 million, or $1.31 per share. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures is included in the schedules accompanying the consolidated financial statements included with this release.
Myron E. (Mike) Ullman, III, chief executive officer of jcpenney said, “Our objective is to put jcpenney back on a path to profitable growth. To achieve this, over the past five weeks we have taken critical steps to stabilize the business, including improving our balance sheet and ensuring we have our senior leadership in place. With that accomplished, together our team is focused on developing and executing strategies to enable us to reconnect with our customer and improve traffic and sales, while operating with strong financial discipline.”
Ullman continued, “We are looking forward, not back, and undertaking initiatives to ensure we have a successful future. We are intensely focused on renewing customer excitement and loyalty through a combination of new attractions and long-beloved brands, with a promotional cadence that customers can appreciate and count on. There is a good deal of work ahead, but by listening to our customers and providing the shopping experience they want, we are confident we will deliver for them and improve performance for the benefit of our suppliers, associates and shareholders.”
Operating Performance
Total sales in the first quarter were $2.635 billion, a decrease of 16.4 percent from $3.152 billion in the same period last year. Comparable store sales decreased 16.6 percent for the quarter and were negatively impacted by the ongoing transformation of the home department.
For the quarter, gross margin was 30.8 percent of sales, compared to 37.6 percent in the same period last year. Gross margin was negatively impacted by lower than expected sales, a higher level of clearance merchandise sales and a return to some promotional activity towards the end of the quarter. SG&A expenses decreased $82 million compared to last year’s first quarter. As a percent of sales, SG&A expenses increased 410 basis points to 40.9 percent of sales. Total non-cash primary pension plan expense was $25 million. As a percent of sales, total operating expenses were 49.3 percent in the first quarter.
For the first quarter, the Company incurred $72 million in restructuring and management transition charges. These charges comprised the following:
| · | Home office and stores $28 million, or $0.08 per share; |
| · | Store fixtures $28 million, or $0.08 per share; |
| · | Management transition $16 million, or $0.04 per share. |
Operating cash flow in the first quarter was a use of $752 million compared to a use of $577 million in last year’s first quarter. Investing cash flow was a use of $196 million, including capital expenditures of $214 million, compared to a use of $116 million in the same quarter last year. Accrued and unpaid capital expenditures were $335 million at the end of the quarter.
Financial Condition
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter of 2013 were $821 million, a decrease of $18 million over the same period last year. Total debt at the end of the quarter was $3.826 billion including $850 million outstanding on the revolving credit facility, long-term debt of $2.868 billion and capital leases and notes payable of $108 million. This is approximately $8 million more than previously reported on May 7, 2013.
Additionally, the Company entered into a commitment letter with Goldman Sachs Bank USA for a five-year $1.75 billion senior secured term loan facility expected to close during the second quarter.
2013 Openings
In the first quarter, the Company introduced the Joe Fresh brand with the opening of 681 locations within our stores. During the second quarter, the Company will open a newly designed and merchandised home department featuring new brand partners such as Michael Graves, Jonathan Adler and Sir Terence Conran, among others. Additionally, during the year
the Company anticipates opening 60 Sephora inside jcpenney stores, including 30 opened during the first quarter, and ending the year with 446.
First Quarter 2013 Earnings Conference Call Details
At 5:00 p.m. ET today, the Company will host a live conference call conducted by Chief Executive Officer Myron E. (Mike) Ullman, III, and Chief Financial Officer Ken Hannah. Management will discuss the Company’s performance during the quarter and take questions from participants. To access the conference call, please dial (866) 515-2907, or (617) 399-5121 for international callers, and reference 45725723 participant code or visit the Company’s investor relations website at http://ir.jcpenney.com.
Replays of the conference call will be available beginning approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call and up to 90 days after the event, by dialing (888) 286-8010, or (617) 801-6888 for international callers, and referencing 11130394 participant code.
For further information, contact:
Investor Relations: (972) 431.5500
jcpinvestorrelations@jcpenney.com
Public Relations: (972) 431.3400
jcpcorpcomm@jcpenney.com
Corporate Website
ir.jcpenney.com
This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, which reflect the Company's current views of future events and financial performance, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's actual results to be materially different from planned or expected results. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the success of our transformation, the impact of changes designed to transform our business, competition and promotional activities, changes in merchandise styles and trends, changes in store traffic trends, maintaining an appropriate mix and level of inventory, the implementation of our new store layout, the availability of internal and external sources of liquidity, our failure to retain, attract and motivate our employees, the reduction and restructuring of our workforce, the impact of cost reduction initiatives, a systems failure and/or security breach that results in the theft, transfer or unauthorized disclosure of customer, employee or Company information, disruptions in our information technology systems or website, changes in our credit ratings, our failure to source and deliver merchandise in a timely and cost-effective manner, changes in our arrangements with our suppliers and vendors, restrictions under our revolving credit facility, potential asset impairment charges, risks associated with importing merchandise from foreign countries, economic and political conditions that impact consumer confidence and spending, the impact of holiday spending patterns and weather conditions, changes in federal, state or local laws and regulations, legal and regulatory proceedings,
significant changes in discount rates, actual investment return on pension assets and other factors related to our qualified pension plan, the influence of our largest stockholders, the volatility of our stock price and our ability to use net operating loss carryforwards to offset future taxable income for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Please refer to the Company's most recent Form 10-K and subsequent filings for a further discussion of risks and uncertainties. Investors should take such risks into account when making investment decisions. We do not undertake to update these forward-looking statements as of any future date.
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