Pension costs weigh on Penney’s earnings

Article Excerpt

J.C. PENNEY CO. INC. $28 (New York symbol JCP; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 236.0 million; Market cap: $6.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 3.1%; WSSF Rating: Average) operates 1,108 department stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. In the fiscal year ended January 30, 2010, the retailer’s earnings fell 56.1%, to $249.0 million from $567.0 million in the prior year. Earnings per share fell 58.0%, to $1.08 from $2.57, on more shares outstanding. Due to falling investment values, Penney paid $337 million of pension costs in the the latest fiscal year. In the prior year, it reported $90 million of pension income. That was the main reason for the earnings drop. Excluding one-time items, per-share earnings fell 14.3%, to $1.86 from $2.17. Sales in fiscal 2010 fell 5.0%, to $17.6 billion from $18.5 billion. Same-store sales fell 6.3%. The company is doing a good job of paying down debt. Its long-term debt of $3.0 billion is down 14.4%…