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RAPAPORT... J.C. Penney Company Inc. reported that its revenue fell 5.1 percent year on year to $2.78 billion in the third quarter that ended on November 2; however, the retailer held cost of goods sold relatively flat from the previous year, they fell 0.8 percent to $1.96 billion. Comparable-store sales slipped 4.8 percent and gross margin fell to 29.5 percent from 32.5 percent one year ago. Operating expenses jumped 10.1 percent to $1.22 billion. JCPenney's net loss skyrocketed nearly 300 percent to $489 million. Myron E. Ullman, III, the CEO of JCPenney, remained upbeat and said the retailer's strategy to ''reconnect with customers'' is beginning to take shape as the Christmas shopping season approaches. ''This is the result of the tremendous efforts of the associates across our company to restore the merchandise customers want and deliver an unmatched shopping experience,'' he said. JCPenney claimed that revenue from its online sales channel jumped 24.5 percent year on year to $266 million in the third quarter. Throughout its network of stores, top performing product categories were women's apparel, men's apparel and fine jewelry. During the quarter, JCPenney incurred $46 million in restructuring and management transition charges, including $36 million related to the return of shares of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the third quarter was $1.227 billion, total available liquidity was $1.71 billion and total debt was $5.612 billion. JCPenney anticipates that its worse sales declines are over, so comparable-store sales and gross margin are expected to improve sequentially from this quarter forward, expenses are expected to be below last year's levels, inventory is expected to be approximately $2.85 billion at the year end and available liquidity is expected to be in excess of $2 billion.
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