TORONTO -- Hudson's Bay Co. says preliminary results suggest its third quarter revenues were up 3.8 per cent from the same time last year but its margins were squeezed by shortages and seasonal clearance markdowns.
HBC says there was no significant damage to its Lord & Taylor stores in the path of Hurricane Sandy in the northeastern United States and that the storm probably won't cause any significant effect on earnings or sales in the fourth quarter.
The information was contained in a revised prospectus filed as part of HBC's plans to return to the public stock market.
HBC says preliminary results show total revenue rose to $930.4 million for the third quarter ended Oct. 27.
That's up $33.7 million from $896.7 million in the comparable quarter last year.
However the company says inventory shortages and clearance markdowns will have a negative effect on profit margin -- although no estimate was disclosed.
HBC did say it expects the third-quarter normalized EBITDA margin for the third quarter will be above what was experience in the first 26 weeks of this year.
It also says the margins for the current quarter will be improved over the same time last year.
"Gross profit rate is expected to improve as a result of a greater mix of higher margin cold weather merchandise and tighter control over inventory levels which will mitigate markdown activity," the company's revised prospectus says.
It also disclosed that HBC's current principal shareholder received a $26-million dividend payment on Oct. 16. About $7.4 million of that will be returned to the company as part of the public offering process.
