US-based apparel retailer JCPenney has said that its EBITDA improved from US $ 68 million to US $ 176 million for the first quarter ended April 30, 2016, up 63 per cent compared to the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 80 per cent to US $ 153 million, marking an improvement of US $ 68 million from the same period last year.
In the period under review, JCPenney noted a surge of 55 per cent in its net income over the prior year to a loss of US $ 68 million. For the quarter, Men’s, Sephora and Footwear and Handbags were the company’s top performing divisions. SG&A expenses in the reporting period were down from US $ 93 million to US $ 872 million. These savings were primarily driven by lower controllable costs and corporate overhead, reduced advertising spend and improved private label credit card income, the company said in a release.
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Marvin R. Ellison, Chief Executive Office – JCPenney, said, “The first quarter was clearly challenging from a sales perspective. Although our business was not immune to the issues facing other retailers, I am pleased that we were able to deliver our second consecutive quarter of positive operating profit, adding, “While our first quarter sales were below our expectations, we are maintaining our annual comp guidance of 3 per cent to 4 per cent as a result of the positive nature of our recent sales trends, the strength of our Sephora business and our decision to accelerate our appliance rollout. Having said that, we remain confident that our turnaround remains on track, and we are excited about our 2016 sales.”
For the Full Year 2016, JCPenney expects comparable store sales to increase 3 per cent to 4 per cent, while EBITDA is expected to be US $ 1 billion.
