J. C. Penney Company, Inc (JCP) saw its loss narrow to $67 million, or $0.22 a share for the quarter ended Oct. 29, 2016. In the previous year period, the company reported a loss of $115 million, or $0.38 a share. On the other hand, adjusted net loss for the quarter narrowed to $65 million, or $0.21 a share from a loss of $140 million or $0.46 a share, a year ago. Revenue during the quarter went down marginally by 1.38 percent to $2,857 million from $2,897 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter contracted 18 basis points over the previous year period to 37.17 percent. Operating margin for the quarter period stood at positive 0.81 percent as compared to a negative 0.55 percent for the previous year period.
Operating income for the quarter was $23 million, compared with an operating loss of $16 million in the previous year period.
However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $174 million compared with $111 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin improved 226 basis points in the quarter to 6.09 percent from 3.83 percent in the last year period.
For the financial year 2016, J. C. Penney Company, Inc projects revenue to grow in the range of 1 percent to 2 percent.
Operating cash flow remains negative
J. C. Penney Company, Inc has spent $401 million cash to meet operating activities during the nine month period as against cash outgo of $416 million in the last year period. The company has spent $249 million cash to meet investing activities during the nine month period as against cash outgo of $215 million in the last year period. It has incurred net capital expenditure of $266 million on net basis during the nine month period, up 16.67 percent or $38 million from year ago period.
The company has spent $67 million cash to carry out financing activities during the nine month period as against cash outgo of $49 million in the last year period.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at $183 million as on Oct. 29, 2016, down 71.32 percent or $455 million from $638 million on Oct. 31, 2015.
Working capital drops significantly
J. C. Penney Company, Inc has witnessed a decline in the working capital over the last year. It stood at $1,395 million as at Oct. 29, 2016, down 26.66 percent or $507 million from $1,902 million on Oct. 31, 2015. Current ratio was at 1.47 as on Oct. 29, 2016, down from 1.67 on Oct. 31, 2015.
Days inventory outstanding has decreased to 94 days for the quarter compared with 167 days for the previous year period. At the same time, days payable outstanding went up to 66 days for the quarter from 65 for the same period last year.
Debt comes down
J. C. Penney Company, Inc has recorded a decline in total debt over the last one year. It stood at $4,796 million as on Oct. 29, 2016, down 9.39 percent or $497 million from $5,293 million on Oct. 31, 2015. Total debt was 49.98 percent of total assets as on Oct. 29, 2016, compared with 50.17 percent on Oct. 31, 2015. Debt to equity ratio was at 4.21 as on Oct. 29, 2016, up from 3.42 as on Oct. 31, 2015. Disclaimer: Please note that this is an auto-generated article. IRIS does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. IRIS especially states that it has no financial liability whatsoever to any user on account of the use of information provided on its website. For queries contact: editor@irisindia.net
