June 13 (Reuters) - Hudson's Bay Co HBC.TO :
* HBC REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2019 FINANCIAL RESULTS
* Q1 REVENUE C$2.1 BILLION
* QTRLY SAKS FIFTH AVENUE COMPARABLE SALES UP 2.4%
* SAKS OFF 5TH RETURNED TO GROWTH, WITH A 4.4% COMP IN Q1
* QTRLY EARNINGS PER SHARE $1.15
* HUDSON'S BAY SAYS "WE ARE SEEING PROGRESS ON A NUMBER OF CRUCIAL FRONTS FROM OUR CONTINUED WORK TO FIX FUNDAMENTALS AND REPOSITION HBC FOR FUTURE"
* AT END OF Q1, INVENTORY DECLINED BY 7 PERCENT YEAR-OVER-YEAR TO $2.7 BILLION
* HUDSON'S BAY'S COMPARABLE SALES DECREASED 4.3 PERCENT IN Q1
* SAKS OFF 5TH RETURNED TO COMPARABLE SALES GROWTH FOR FIRST TIME SINCE Q2 OF FISCAL 2017
* HUDSON'S BAY SAYS "INCREMENTALLY MORE CONFIDENT" THAT POST-HOLIDAY DIAGNOSIS WAS CORRECT & FALL ASSORTMENT WILL BETTER MATCH CUSTOMERS' EXPECTATIONS
* ENDED QUARTER WITH ABOUT $2.9 BILLION OF DEBT, WHICH DECLINED NEARLY $1 BILLION FROM END OF Q1 IN 2018
* SAYS "WE HAVE MORE WORK TO DO FIXING FUNDAMENTALS"
* DECLARED DIVIDEND IN AMOUNT OF $0.0125 PER HBC COMMON SHARE
* IN FISCAL 2019, EXPECTS CAPEX, NET OF LANDLORD INCENTIVES, TO MODERATE Y-O-Y, SPENDING BETWEEN $300 & $325 MILLION