NEW YORK — Macy’s announced a multiyear money-saving restructuring program that it says will shrink its management structure and make the department store more nimble in a fiercely competitive environment.

The plan, unveiled Tuesday, would result in annual cost savings of $100 million and include the elimination of 100 vice president positions.

The latest moves to shrink the business come as the department store chain reported a drop in profits and total sales during the critical fourth quarter as well as meager growth in sales at established stores, a key measure for a retailer’s health.

The results only beat Wall Street expectations because they were lowered after the department store chain announced sluggish holiday sales last month. It also forecast on Tuesday that sales at stores opened at least a year would be anywhere from unchanged to up 1 percent for the current fiscal year.

A strong economy and Macy’s reinvention efforts have helped produce a string of quarterly increases at established stores after a three-year sales slump. But that momentum is fizzling.

Macy’s as well as several other department stores struggled through the holiday season after a strong start. That called into question whether such mall-based chains can compete in a changing landscape where shoppers are shifting more of their spending online. It also is putting pressure on Macy’s and others that they need to do more to compete in the age of Amazon.

“The problem for Macy’s is that if it cannot deliver a strong set of numbers against the backdrop of a good consumer economy, its fortunes for the upcoming year — when economic growth will cool — do not look good,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, in a report. “In our view, this underlines the fact that Macy’s has still not successfully created a true destination status and has still not got to grips with many of the issues plaguing its stores.”