PLANO (July 9, 2009)--J. C. Penney announced Thursday that its June same-store sales fell 8.2 percent, but the numbers beat the expectations of analysts.

The Plano-based department store chain also narrowed its loss estimate for the second quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected same-store sales to fall 9.3 percent.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are a key indicator of retailer performance.

Penney now says it expects to report a second-quarter loss of 8 cents to 12 cents per share.

It previously had predicted a loss of 15 cents to 25 cents per share.

Sales results were better in the Southwest and worse in the Southeast.