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JC Penney’s cost-cutting pays off
JC Penney reported a higher quarterly profit yesterday as it benefited from increased sales of its exclusive merchandise and cost-cutting. The department store operator raised its full-year profit forecast, sending its shares up six per cent. Penney reported that first-quarter net income rose 6.7 per cent to $64m (£39.4m) from $60m. In recent years the retailer tried to turn itself into a more fashionable retailer. It has also sought to control costs by changing the way it manages inventory and shuttering weaker businesses such as its catalogue operation, which it is winding down.