Hudson's Bay Co losses widen on lower sales, heavy discounts

Canadian department store operator Hudson’s Bay Co reported a wider second-quarter loss on Thursday, hurt by several shuttered stores, heavy discounting and declining sales at the retailer’s namesake brand.

The Toronto-based company has been fighting a tough retail environment as e-commerce behemoth Amazon.com Inc and other department stores such as Macy’s and Nordstrom Inc continue to swoop up more customers with discounts.

“The promotional activity in luxury was exceptionally intense in the second quarter and a notable change from the first quarter”, Chief Executive Officer Helena Foulkes said.

Brands Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th, however, performed well in the quarter. Comparable sales at Saks Fifth Avenue rose 0.6% and that at Saks OFF 5TH climbed 3.4%.

Retail sales at the company fell marginally to C$1.83 billion from a year earlier.

Over the past few years Hudson’s Bay has been closing stores and selling businesses to sustain business. Last month, it said it would sell its Lord + Taylor department store business to fashion rental service company Le Tote Inc for about $100 million.

The company’s net loss from continuing operations widened to C$462 million, or C$2.51 per share in the quarter ended Aug. 3, from C$104 million, or 58 Canadian cents a year earlier.

Total revenue fell to C$1.85 billion from C$1.86 billion.