J.C. Penney December same-store sales fall 7.5 pct

NEW YORK (Reuters) - J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP.N) said on Thursday that December sales at department stores open at least a year fell 7.5 percent, and warned that fourth-quarter earnings would be at the lower end of a previously issued range.

Analysts on average were expecting a decline of 7.4 percent for December same-store sales, according to Reuters Estimates.

Plano, Texas-based Penney said total company sales fell 5.6 percent to $3.18 billion in the five weeks ended January 5 from the previous year.

Total December sales at the company's department stores fell 4.5 percent to $2.8 billion.

The company said January same-store sales would fall in the mid-single digits on a percentage basis at both its department stores and its direct-to-consumer division.

J.C. Penney said it now expects that fourth-quarter earnings will be at the lower end of a previously issued range of $1.65 to $1.80 per share.

Analysts, on average, had been expecting earnings of $1.70 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

(Additional reporting by Alexandria Sage) (Reporting by Aarthi Sivaraman; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)