Canadian merchant Hudson’s Bay Co. grew web and total sales in the first quarter and reduced its net loss vs. 2012.

For the quarter ended May 4, Hudson’s Bay, No. 158 in Internet Retailer’s 2013 Top 500 Guide, reported:

• E-commerce sales of C$31.10 million ($30.5 million), an increase of 32.8% from about C$23.42 million ($23.0 million) in the first quarter of 2012.
• Total sales of C$884.0 million ($867.2 million), up by 4.2% from C$848.2 million ($832.1 million).
• Comparable-store sales, which include e-commerce and clearance store year-over-year sales, increased 4.0%. Hudson’s Bay same-store stores grew 7.6%, and same-store sales at Lord & Taylor declined 1.4% on a U.S. dollar basis.
• Net loss of C$87 million ($85.4 million), compared with a net loss of C$129 million ($126.6 million) in the first quarter of 2012.

E-commerce represented 3.5% of total sales for the quarter and 21.4% of total sales growth. The web accounted for 2.8% of overall sales in the same quarter last year.

“We are pleased with our first quarter performance,” says Richard Baker, Hudson’s Bay CEO. “Our strong sales growth can be attributed to several factors, including improvements in store productivity, increased e-commerce sales and our partnership with Topshop/Topman.” Topshop and Topman are based in the United Kingdom and offer trendy fashions for young women and men, respectively, worldwide through stores and e-commerce sites.

Lord & Taylor sales were affected by “unfavorable year-over-year weather patterns,” Baker says.