HBC Q4 profit down from year ago, Saks acquisition pushes sales up

TORONTO – Hudson’s Bay Co. (TSX:HBC) says it earned $29.1 million in its latest quarter as its acquisition of U.S. luxury retailer Saks helped sales increase nearly 75 per cent.

The company says the profit amounted to six cents per diluted share on $2.41 billion in sales in the quarter ended Feb. 1

That compared with a profit of $86.8 million or 75 cents per diluted share on $1.39 billion in sales a year ago.

HBC says same-store sales at its Hudson’s Bay stores were up 5.2 per cent, while Saks same-store sales grew 3.1 per cent on a U.S. dollar basis.

Its Lord and Taylor stores saw same-store sales fall 1.3 per cent on a U.S. dollar basis.

In its outlook, HBC says it expects total sales of between $7.8 billion and $8.1 billion for its 2014 financial year based on same-store sales rising by low to middle single digits.

Normalized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amoritization for the coming year are expected to be between $580 million and $620 million.