Hudson's Bay shares up on higher-than-expected profit despite decreased revenue in 4Q

Hudson’s Bay Company (TSE:HBC) (OTCMKTS:HBAYF) reported its fourth-quarter 2018 results on Wednesday morning, beating profit targets despite lower revenue as the retailer suffers from the effect of Canadians tightening their purses.

The Toronto-based merchandiser announced it would be closing a number of stores in 2019 and shuttering its discount home goods chain, but the changes came too late for fourth-quarter financials.

Shares of HBC gained nearly 6% to trade at $7.96 in Toronto, and US$5.95 on the OTC Markets in the US.

READ: Macy’s Q4 earnings beat Street estimates

HBC reported fourth-quarter revenue slipped to $2.9 billion compared with $3.1 billion during the year-ago quarter, which included an extra week. Excluding that week, quarterly revenue was still down 1.6% compared with a year ago.

The company reported a net loss of $226 million from its continuing operations, or $0.95 per share, compared with a profit of $180 million, or $0.84 a year prior.

However, the company did report a net profit of $286 million or $1.20 per share from its total operations, compared with $84 million, or $0.39 during the year-ago period, including discontinued operations in both periods.

After adjusting for one-time items, the company posted a profit of $0.41, beating analyst expectations of $0.25 per share.

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Story by ProactiveInvestors