Kohl's narrowed its loss during the latest quarter and logged what it called its best same-store sales performance in years, a sign its turnaround continues to progress.

The department-store chain posted a loss of $14 million for its three months ended May 2, compared with a loss of $15 million a year earlier. The quarterly loss came out to 13 cents a share, compared with analyst expectations for a loss of 16 cents a share, according to FactSet.

Sales slipped 1.7% to $3 billion, in line with Wall Street models.

Comparable sales, which account for store openings and closing, ebbed 1.1%. Analysts had been expecting same-store sales to fall 1.7%.

Chief Executive Michael Bender called the result Kohl's best comparable-sales performance in over four years, attributing the moderate decline to ongoing efforts to improve the business.

"In addition, we continue to manage the business with great discipline leading to strong expense management, cleaner inventories, and an improved balance sheet," he added.

Shares rose 9%, to $14.10, in premarket trading.

Looking ahead, Kohl's backed its outlook for adjusted earnings of $1 a share to $1.60 a share this year, compared with analyst views for $1.36 a share. Comparable sales are projected to be down 2% to flat, as are net sales. Wall Street is projecting same-store sales to slip 0.5%.