J.C. Penney same-store sales miss estimates, cuts profit forecast

FBN's Jeff Flock talks to Capital Companies President Rich Turasky about the impact of the retail ice age on commercial real estate across the country.

May 17 (Reuters) - J.C. Penney Co Inc's first-quarter sales at established stores missed analysts' estimate on Thursday as unusually cool weather in April hurt demand for spring clothing, pushing the company to cut its full-year profit forecast.

Shares of the department store operator fell 11 percent in premarket trading after it forecast full-year adjusted earnings per share between a loss of 7 cents and profit of 13 cents.

The company had previously forecast adjusted profit to be between 5 cents and 25 cents per share.

J.C. Penney is the second retailer after Home Depot Inc to blame the prolonged cold weather for a drop in same-store sales.

The retailer's same-store sales rose 0.2 percent, missing the analysts' estimate of about 2 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company's net loss narrowed to $78 million, or 25 cents per share, in the quarter ended May 5, from $187 million, or 60 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, J.C. Penney lost 22 cents per share, missing expectations by 1 cent.

Total net sales fell 4.3 percent to $2.58 billion, missing analysts estimate of $2.61 billion. (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)