HBC profit up as revenue surges 70%

Hudson's Bay Co. has reported a sharp increase in both fourth-quarter and full-year net earnings as the department store group got a big boost from the sale of real estate investments.

The company, whose banners include Hudson's Bay, Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue among others, said net earnings in the three months ended Jan. 30 was $370 million, or $1.88 per diluted share.

That was up from $115 million, or 62 cents per diluted share, in the comparable year-earlier period as the company realized $516 million on the sale of investments in its real estate joint venture.

Revenue soared 70.4 per cent to $4.486 billion from $2.632 billion, primarily as a result of the addition of HBC Europe following the close of its Galeria acquisition last September.

On a constant currency basis, HBC said consolidated comparable store sales — an important metric in retail — increased by 1.8 per cent for the quarter and 2.5 per cent for the year.

For the full year, net earnings totalled $387 million, up from $233 million in fiscal 2014. Full-year consolidated retail sales were $11.162 billion, up 36 per cent from $8.169 billion, also primarily attributable to the addition of HBC Europe.