By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO
AP Retail Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - J.C. Penney Co. is reporting a bigger-than-expected loss and plummeting sales for the third quarter as its customers are still not buying its pricing plan that gets rid of hundreds of discounts.
The department store chain says it lost 56 cents per share, or $123 million in the quarter ended Oct. 27. That compares with a loss of $143 million, or 67 cents per share in the year ago period.
Revenue dropped 26.6% to $2.93 billion
Analysts had expected a 15 cent loss on revenue of $3.27 billion.
Revenue at stores opened at least a year dropped 26.1%. Analysts expected a 17.6% drop..
The bleak performance marks the third straight quarter of losses and severe sales declines since Penney implemented the pricing plan on Feb. 1.
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