J.C. Penney's CFO Edward Record to step down

Department store operator J.C. Penney Co Inc said Chief Financial Officer Edward Record would step down, effective July 11, and that its second-quarter sales are expected to "significantly improve" from the previous quarter.

Record, who joined J.C. Penney as CFO in March 2014, will remain in an advisory role until Aug. 7 to assist with the transition while a search for his replacement is conducted, the company said.

"We continue to expect to report significantly improved top-line results this quarter versus the first quarter," Chief Executive Marvin Ellison said in a statement.

The company also named Chief Accounting Officer Andrew Drexler as its interim CFO. J.C. Penney had reported first-quarter sales of $2.71 billion, a 3.7 percent drop from the year-earlier period.

(Reporting by Gayathree Ganesan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)