HBC reports higher Q2 sales, $3.9 million in adjusted earnings

TORONTO – Hudson’s Bay Co. (TSX:HBC) is reporting improved overall profit and sales from continuing operations in the second quarter but its Lord & Taylor stores in the United States showed the lingering effects of weak market conditions.

HBC’s “normalized” net earnings from continuing operations rose to $3.9 million or three cents per share in the quarter ended Aug. 4, compared with a loss of two cents per share or $2 million in the second quarter of 2012.

HBC’s overall retail sales rose to $947.7 million, from $911.9 million a year earlier as Hudson’s Bay stores in Canada offset slippage at Lord & Taylor.

Hudson Bay’s stores open at least a year show same-store sales growth of 6.2 per cent, compared with a decline of 1.2 per cent at Lord & Taylor during the period.

HBC also reported a net loss of $82.3 million in its fiscal second quarter, or 69 cents per share.

That compares with a year-earlier net profit of $22 million, or 21 cents per share, when HBC’s bottom line was boosted by gains from the sale of many of its Zellers locations to Target.