J. C. Penney Company Inc. announced that its comparable store sales for the combined nine-week period ending January 4, 2020, decreased 7.5 percent. Adjusted comparable store sales, which exclude the impact of the company’s exit from major appliance and in-store furniture categories, decreased 5.3 percent.

The company also reaffirmed its financial guidance for full-year fiscal 2019 as follows:

  • Comparable store sales expected to be in a range of (7.0) percent to (8.0) percent;
  • Adjusted comparable store sales, which exclude the impact of the company’s exit from major appliances and in-store furniture categories, expected to be in a range of (5.0) percent to (6.0) percent;
  • Cost of goods sold, as a percent of net sales, expected to decrease 150 to 200 basis points compared to last year;
  • Adjusted EBITDA1 expected to exceed $475 million; and
  • Free Cash Flow1: expected to be positive.

A reconciliation of non-GAAP forward-looking projections to GAAP financial measures is not available as the nature or amount of potential adjustments, which may be significant, cannot be determined now.

The company will report its fourth quarter and fiscal 2019 results on February 27, 2020.