Shares of JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) have slumped more than 10 percent Tuesday afternoon following lackluster first-quarter results and news the Board has discontinued paying a quarterly cash dividend.

The Plano, TX-based company posted quarterly revenue of $3.15 billion, down about 20 percent from the $3.94 billion reported in the same quarter last year. Same-store sales tumbled 18.9 percent. The sales figures included effects of JCPenney's exit from the outlet business. Internet sales were down 27.9 percent year over year to $271 million.

JCPenney saw a GAAP loss of $163 million, sharply below a gain of $64 million in the year-ago quarter. The pro-forma loss totaled $55 million, compared to a gain of $83 million for the quarter ended at the end of April in 2011. The non-GAAP loss came to 25 cents per share.

Analysts on the Street were expecting first-quarter sales of $3.48 billion and a non-GAAP loss of 10 cents per share.

Gross margin fell from 40.5 percent last year to 37.6 percent, impacted by lower than expected sales in the quarter and the impact of taking deeper seasonal markdowns to clear inventory coming out of the fourth quarter of 2011.

SG&A expenses fell $121 million year over year. Based on the pace of its ongoing efforts to aggressively manage expenses, coupled with additional operational efficiencies that management has identified, the Company now expects savings to accelerate and exceed the run rate of approximately $900 million at the end of 2012, one year earlier than it had previously announced.

JCPenney affirmed its FY12adjusted earnings guidance of $2.16 per share, but said it will no longer hit the previously-issued GAAP EPS outlook of $1.59.

JCPenney shares last traded at $30.15.

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