Hudson’s Bay has profitable quarter

Toronto -- Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) had an overall successful first quarter of fiscal 2013 despite some sluggish performance at its Lord & Taylor banner.



The company reported gross profit of $356 million for the quarter ended May 4, up 4% from $341 million a year earlier. Retail sales also grew 4%, from $848 million to $884 million. Consolidated same-store sales increased 4% as well.



Lord & Taylor experienced a 1.4% same-store sales decline, but an 8% improvement at Hudson’s Bay helped offset it. The retailer attributed the impact of poor weather on Lord & Taylor’s declining traffic while citing strong performance of men's apparel, ladies' shoes, cosmetics, handbags, accessories and certain home categories, the continued growth of e-commerce sales and the company's five Topshop/Topman stores as driving traffic at Hudson’s Bay. The company also primarily attributed its gross profit improvement to Hudson’s Bay performance.



“We are pleased with our first quarter performance," said HBC CEO Richard Baker. "Our strong sales growth can be attributed to several factors, including improvements in store productivity, increased e-commerce sales and our partnership with Topshop/Topman. These strategic initiatives drove gains at Hudson's Bay, which continues to outperform its competitors. At Lord & Taylor, our sales performance was impacted by unfavorable year over year weather patterns."