JCPenney 3Q profits tumble

By Don Hogsett -- Home Textiles Today, 11/27/2000 12:00:00 AM

PLANO, TX -With sales stalling out and margins growing tighter in a sustained retail slowdown, third-quarter operating profits at JCPenney department stores and catalog tumbled by almost two-thirds, falling by 64.2 percent, to $81 million from $226 million last year.

Sales slacked off by 4.9 percent in the core retail segment, with department stores and catalogs both declining, to $4.3 billion from $4.5 billion the prior year, a shortfall of $222 million. Same-store sales declined by 3.7 percent.

One bright spot was e-commerce sales, which more than tripled from the year-ago period, to $73 million from $20 million this year.

Tugging at the bottom line, average gross margin narrowed substantially in the retail segment, contracting by 290 basis points, to 29.6 percent from 32.5 percent. Contributing to the margin pressure, along with lower sales, was a sharply higher level of markdowns as the company cleared out its shelves in anticipation of the all-important holiday season.

Under even greater pressure from its struggling Eckerd drugstore business, Penney recorded an overall loss of $30 million, compared with a prior-year profit of $142 million. Eckerd's posted a $63 million operating loss, compared with a profit the year before of $23 million. Gross margins came under heavy pressure at Eckerd's from a decline in higher-margin general merchandise sales and an increased proportion of low-margin managed care pharmacy sales.

Total company sales declined by 1.2 percent, to $7.6 billion from $7.8 billion, with the decline in retail sales partially offset by a 4.2 percent gain at Eckerd's.

JCPenney Stores and Catalog results

	2000	1999	%CHG
Sales	$4,319,000	$4,541,000	(4.9)
Operating profits	81,000	226,000	(64.2)
Average gross margin	29.6%	32.5%	-
SG & A expenses	27.7%	27.5%	-

( ): Denotes loss

J.C. PENNEY CO. INC.

Qtr. 10/28 (x000)	2000	1999	%CHG
Sales	$7,743,000	$7,834,000	(1.2)
Oper. income (EBIT)	18,000	249,000	(92.8)
Net income	(30,000)b	142,000b	-
Per share (diluted)	(0.15)	0.51	-
NINE MONTHS	2000	1999	%CHG
Sales	22,896,000	22,676,000	1.0
Oper. income (EBIT)	236,000	598,000	(60.5)
Net income	(125,000)c	348,000c	-
Per share (diluted)	(0.57)	1.24	-

( ): Denotes loss

a-expense ratio and average gross margin are calculated for department stores and catalog, and exclude the Eckerd's drugstore division.

b-Third-quarter results include $19 million in acquisition amortization charges vs. $18 million last year; $3 million in restructuring costs; and an income-tax credit of $18 million vs. a tax liability of $77 million in 1999.

c-Nine-month results include $80 million in acquisition amortization charges vs. $1.3 million last year; and an income-tax credit of $79 million, compared with a year-ago tax liability of $198 million.