JC Penney cuts earnings forecast : US Business

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mid-tier department store operator JC Penney Co Inc on Friday slashed its first-quarter earnings forecast, saying sales through the Easter holiday were below expectations and noting that consumer confidence is at a multi-year low.

Penney's shares fell 11.2 percent to $36 before the opening bell.

"J.C. Penney counts half of American families as its customers, and they are feeling macro-economic pressures from many areas, including higher energy costs, deteriorating employment trends and significant issues in the housing and credit markets," Myron "Mike" Ullman, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

"The sharp decline in sales is reflective of these trends," he said.

The retailer now expects first-quarter earnings of approximately 50 cents per share, compared with its previous view of 75 to 80 cents per share.

It also expects a low-double-digit decline in March sales at stores open at least a year, known as comparable store sales, and a high-single-digit decline in comparable-store sales for the first quarter. Its previous view was for comparable store sales in March and the first quarter to decline in the low single digits.

(Reporting by Nicole Maestri, editing by Mark Porter and Gerald E. McCormick)

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