J. C. Penney Company comparable Department Store sales increased 3.8% for the four weeks ended August 28, 2004. Sales reflected good customer response to back-to-school merchandise assortments as well as the Home marketing event, and represented the fourth consecutive year of solid August performance. Catalog/Internet sales increased 6.0 percent, with strong results from the Fall/Winter Big Book and continued growth of Internet. Internet sales increased more than 35 percent for the period.
The Company currently projects September sales for both comparable Department Stores and Catalog/Internet to increase low-single digits.
At this time, management is reaffirming its recently announced third quarter earnings guidance in the range of $0.35 to $0.40 per share. As of August 31, 2004, the Company had repurchased 6.1 million shares of its common stock in open market transactions.
Preliminary Sales
Summary
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($ in millions)
Period ended % Increase
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Aug. 28, Aug. 23, All Comparable
2004 2003 Stores Stores
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4 Weeks
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Department stores $1,346 $1,294 4 3.8
Catalog/Internet 194 183 6
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Total $1,540 $1,477 4.3
30 Weeks
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Department stores $8,058 $7,502 7.4 7.5
Catalog/Internet 1,372 1,331 3.1
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Total $9,430 $8,833 6.8
