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.