JC Penney shares fall after surprise sales decline in Q3

US department store chain JC Penney shares fell 9% in pre-market trading after posting an unexpected sales decline in its latest quarterly earnings report.

Shares rose 5.4% on Thursday as other department store operators reported encouraging results, but Penney failed to match Macy's and Kohl's impressive profits on Friday.

The company's same-store sales fell 0.8% during its latest quarter, down from a 6.4% in the corresponding period in 2015, and significantly missing the 2.2% increase forecast by analysts.

Penney has recently announced changes to the way it approaches its consumers, citing a change in customer habits as shoppers turn to discount and online stores.

The company posted an overall loss of $67m, or 22 cents per share, compared with a $115m loss for the quarter last year, or 38 cents per share.

As a result, Penney cut its forecast for the full year ahead to between 1% and 2%, having previously advised between 3% and 4%.

"We view our October sales results — specifically our acceleration in the last two weeks of the month — and the benefit from appliances as examples of what we expect for the balance of the fourth quarter," chief executive officer Marvin Ellison said in the earnings statement.