• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, May 16, 2011

JCPenney, in announcing stronger earnings and sales, says it is amping up its expense-reduction plans, and will deliver an additional $50 million in savings this year--some based on more efficient marketing spending.

The Plano, Tex.-based retailer says its net income for the first quarter rose 6.7% to $64 million, up from $60 million in the first period of last year, beating earlier estimates. And while overall sales squeaked up just 0.4% to $3.94 billion, up from $3.93 in the year-ago period, due to its exit from the catalog business, same-store sales generated a 3.8% gain.

The company attributed those results to sales of such private-label brands as Liz Claiborne, Worthington and St. John's Bay, as well as ongoing growth of its store-within-a-store concepts, such as Sephora inside jcpenney (now in 254 locations), MNG by Mango (now in 292 stores), and Call It Spring (in 100 spots.) Women's and children's apparel were its best sellers, with the southwest turning in the strongest regional performance,

Penney says it is stepping up its cost-cutting initiatives, streamlining operations across stores, its supply chain and home office, as well as in its marketing budget.