=J. C. Penney (JCP) reported earnings on Fri 24 Feb 17 (b/o)

 J. C. Penney beats by $0.03, reports revs in-line; guides FY18 EPS in-line with flat comps; plans to close 13-14% of stores :

• Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.64 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.61; revenues fell 0.9% year/year to $3.96 bln vs the $3.97 bln Capital IQ Consensus. Comparable store sales were (0.7)% for the quarter.
• Reported holiday comps down 0.8% and reaffirmed FY17 EBITDA in early January.
• Home, Sephora, Salon and Fine Jewelry were the Company's top performing merchandise divisions during the quarter.
• Geographically, the Southeast and Pacific were the best performing regions of the country.
• For the fourth quarter, gross margin was 33.1 % of sales vs./ 34.3% estiamtes, a 100 basis point decline compared to the same period last year. Gross margin was impacted primarily by increased promotional activity during the quarter, coupled with the continued growth in both online and major appliances. 
• Co issues in-line guidance for FY18, sees EPS of $0.40-0.65, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.58 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Comparable store sales: expected to be -1% to +1%, just below estimates; Gross margin: expected to be up 20 to 40 basis points versus 2016; SG&A dollars: expected to be down 1 to 2% versus 2016.
• Achieves $1 Billion in EBITDA for Full Year; a $477 Million Improvement.  
• Co expects to close two distribution facilities and approx. 130-140 stores over the next few months; expects annual cost savings of approx. $200 mln related to the closures (6.86) The total store closures represent ~13-14 % of its current store portfolio, less than 5% of total annual sales, less than 2% of EBITDA and 0% of net income.