Hudson’s Bay Company announces comp sales increase in Q1

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
May 17, 2016

Hudson’s Bay Company on Friday announced its comparable sales results for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 ended April 30, 2016.

 
Consolidated comparable sales in the quarter increased 4.4%, but it decreased 1.0% on a constant currency basis. Department Store Group comparable sales and Total Digital Sales increased 2.3% and 7.4%, respectively.
 
HBC Off Price, which includes Saks Off 5th and Gilt, decreased 4.1% and Saks Fifth Avenue decreased 5.7%, but HBC Europe, which is comprised of Galeria Kaufhof, Galeria Inno and Sportarena, increased 0.7%.

Jerry Storch, Chief Executive Officer, HBC commented, “During the first quarter we continued to execute on our all-channel strategy: combining exciting retail destinations with a best in class ecommerce platform. In a challenging retail market, HBC’s results reflect our diversification across both geography and retail concepts.”
 
Storch added that the integration of Gilt into the company’s Off Price business went smoothly, and that the company is excited about the new business. Hudson's Bay Company acquired Gilt in January 2016 for about $250 million, and the acquisition is expected to add $500 million to its 2016 total sales.
 
“We are encouraged by the results of our digital businesses where sales growth remained strong. As we look to the back half of the year, we expect the execution of our all-channel strategy to drive comparable sales growth.”