Hudson’s Bay losses continue to soar

Canadian Hudson’s Bay Group has suffered another increased loss, although turnover was higher than forecast. Its European stores continue to struggle and are in decline, but despite that, the group has premiered two of its chains in the Netherlands.

200 million dollar loss

Hudson’s Bay’s second quarter turnover grew 1.2 % to 3.29 billion Canadian dollars (2.2 billion euro), up from analysts’ expectations at 3.26 billion dollars. There was a 1.3 % like-for-like turnover drop, although its subsidiary Saks Fifth Avenue did post a 1.7 % like-for-like turnover increase and online channels also performed well, with an 11 % like-for-like turnover growth.

Despite the higher turnover, the group suffered another huge loss, with net losses at 201 million dollars (140 million euro), up from 142 million dollars (about 100 million euro).

Hudson’s Bay is still convinced about its European expansion, with five new Saks OFF Fifth stores in Germany and the very first store for Hudson’s Bay and Saks OFF FIfth in the Netherlands. HBC Europe’s like-for-like turnover drop was 2.8 %, its largest slide since it entered the European market back in 2015 when it purchased Galeria Kaufhof in Germany.