JC Penney Company Inc. reported a 16.4% drop in sales, to $ 2.64 billion, according to the results of the first financial quarter, which ended on May 4, Rapaport reports. Sales in comparable stores decreased by 16.6%. The loss of the jewelry retailer for the quarter was $ 348 million, or $ 1.58 per share, while in the same period last year the company received a net loss of $ 163 million, or $ 0.75 per share.
In the first quarter, the company launched a large-scale restructuring program, which identified costs for changes in the corporate governance system of $ 72 million.
According to the recently appointed CEO of JC Penney, Myron E. Ullman, the goal of the restructuring is to return the company to the path of progressive development and ensure profitability, and therefore spent the last few weeks on developing measures to stabilize the position of the retailer.