(Bloomberg) — Nordstrom’s revenue has returned to its pre-pandemic peak less than a year after the department store went private in a $6.25 billion deal, according to people familiar with the matter.
Sales at the the Seattle-based company grew to about $15.8 billion last year, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private financial disclosures. That’s up from $15 billion a year earlier and in line with the record-high reached in 2019, before lockdowns accelerated a shift to online shopping.
The change in fortunes comes after the Nordstrom family and Mexican department-store chain El Puerto de Liverpool SAB closed a deal to acquire the company in May in an all-cash transaction valued at about $6.25 billion. Nordstrom and rival Bloomingdale’s, owned by Macy’s Inc., have also benefited from the bankruptcy of Saks Global Enterprises.
Pro-forma earnings before interest and taxes, a measure of profitability of the company’s operations, rose to 61% to $799 million last year, the people said. The measure excluded pushdown privatization adjustments, an accounting method used to allow buyers to pass on the cost of purchasing a company to the target’s accounts.
Revenue in the three months ended Jan. 31 rose 7% to $4.6 billion, the people said. A company spokesperson confirmed the results. Fortune previously reported last year’s revenue growth.
Nordstrom’s founding family was betting that the century-old retail chain would be more successful without the scrutiny and demands of the public market when it agreed to take the company private. El Puerto de Liverpool now owns a 49.9% stake and the Nordstrom family 50.1%.
–With assistance from Jeannette Neumann.
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