Bankrupt J. C. Penney managed to close out the June selling period with a profit instead of a loss.
Penney’s reported $47 million in net income for the month ended July 4 versus a net loss of $25 million for the year-ago period, per a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday.
For the five months that started in February, Penney’s net loss ballooned to $647 million, versus a net loss of $190 million for the same year-ago period.
For the month, total revenues fell 19.7 percent to $622 million from $775 million a year ago, with net sales falling 21.0 percent to $582 million from $737 million. The mass merchant reported reorganization costs of $17 million for June.
Penney’s has until Friday to finalize an agreement with first-lien lenders on its business plan. Presuming it meets that deadline, it must secure binding commitments for exit financing by Aug. 30. The mass-market retailer said Monday it has tentatively forged an agreement with first-lien lenders on a workable business plan, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Penney’s will shed 1,000 jobs as part of its restructuring process, but also plans to close fewer than the 242 doors it had originally anticipated. Depending on how talks proceed with first-lien lenders, the mass merchant could still find itself closing additional stores beyond the 152 locations set to go dark.