SECURITIES & EXCHANGE COMMISSION EDGAR FILING

SECURITIES & EXCHANGE COMMISSION EDGAR FILING

Hudson Ltd.

Form: 6-K Date Filed: 2019-07-30

Corporate Issuer CIK: 1714368

? Copyright 2019, Issuer Direct Corporation. All Right Reserved. Distribution of this document is strictly prohibited, subject to the terms of use.

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the month of July, 2019 Commission File Number: 001-38378

Hudson Ltd.

(Translation of registrant's name into English)

4 New Square Bedfont Lakes Feltham, Middlesex TW14 8HA United Kingdom (Address of principal executive office)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:

Form 20-F

Form 40-F

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7):

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Hudson Ltd.

By: /s/ Adrian Bartella Name: Adrian Bartella Title: Chief Financial Officer

Date: July 30, 2019

Exhibit No. 99.1

EXHIBIT INDEX

Description Press release, July 30, 2019 ? Hudson Group Reports Second Quarter 2019 Results

Exhibit 99.1

Hudson Group Reports Second Quarter 2019 Results

East Rutherford, NJ ? July 30, 2019 ? Hudson Ltd. (NYSE: HUD) ("Hudson Group"), a leader in North American travel retail, announced today its results for the quarter ended June 30, 2019.

Highlights of the Quarter: Turnover of $509.9 million, a year-over-year increase of 2.1%; Organic sales growth of 1.8%; Gross margin increased 30 bps to 64.2% for the quarter; Adjusted EBITDA of $70.6 million; adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.8% Concessions win at St. Pete-Clearwater Airport

"Our performance in the second quarter demonstrates our ability to enhance the profitability of our business, despite ongoing macroeconomic pressures to our duty-free operations," stated Roger Fordyce, CEO of Hudson Group. "On the topline, we were pleased by strength of our core duty-paid business, which was fueled by momentum in categories like food & beverage and electronics. We continue to drive gross margin expansion thanks to our increasing scale and purchasing power. And we are working on a number of exciting initiatives focused on merchandising and the use of digital technology in order to improve the customer experience and the overall efficiency of our organization, to continue to drive long-term value."

Management Discussion of Second Quarter 2019 Income Statement Turnover increased $10.5 million or 2.1% to $509.9 million for the second quarter compared to $499.4 million in the second quarter 2018.

Second quarter net sales increased $8.7 million to $499.1 million or 1.8% from the year-ago period. Second quarter organic net sales growth was 1.8%, compared to 8.2% in the year-ago period, primarily due to macroeconomic pressures around

Chinese spending that impacted our duty-free and luxury business. In addition, our duty-free sales were negatively impacted by 30 bps due to the renovation of a large duty-free store. Second quarter like-for-like net sales growth was 0.6% (1.2% in constant currency), compared to 4.5% (3.8% in constant currency) in the year-ago period due to the factors described above. Gross profit increased $8.2 million or 2.6% to $327.5 million in the second quarter compared to $319.3 million in the year-ago period. Gross margin increased 30 bps to 64.2% during the quarter due to improved vendor pricing, as well as continued sales mix shift to higher margin categories. Partially offsetting the increase was a prior year benefit of 70 bps of vendor rebates recorded in the second quarter of 2018, which were retroactive to the beginning of that year and attributable to the first quarter of 2018. Leases expenses (formerly included in Selling expenses) decreased $54.1 million or 49.7% to $54.8 million in the second quarter as compared to the year-ago period due to the adoption of IFRS 16 Leases, which requires the capitalization of the fixed portion of rent payments. Beginning January 1, 2019, lease expenses are only comprised of lease payments that are variable in nature.

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 Personnel expenses increased $7.8 million or 7.7% to $108.6 million in the second quarter as compared to the year-ago period primarily due to opening new store locations as well as wage increases and additional personnel expense upon becoming a public company. As a percentage of turnover, personnel expenses increased from 20.2% to 21.3%.

Other expenses (formerly General expenses) decreased $1.1 million or 2.8% to $38.7 million in the second quarter as compared to the year-ago period. As a percentage of turnover, other expenses decreased from 8.0% to 7.6%.

Adjusted EBITDA decreased $1.6 million or 2.2% to $70.6 million in the second quarter as compared to the prior year quarter. This decrease was primarily driven by vendor rebates received in the second quarter of 2018 that were retroactive to January 1, 2018 and attributable to the first quarter of 2018.

Depreciation, amortization and impairment increased $47.7 million or 155.9% in the second quarter as compared to the year-ago quarter due to the adoption of IFRS 16 Leases which requires the capitalization and depreciation of right of use assets, which are primarily comprised of our leases and concessions.

Reported net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent decreased $5.2 million to $9.1 million in the second quarter compared to $14.3 million in the year ago quarter, while reported basic and diluted earnings per share decreased to $0.10 per share compared to $0.15 in the prior year quarter.

Adjusted net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent decreased $6.2 million to $16.9 million in the second quarter ($20.6 million excluding IFRS 16 impact), while adjusted diluted earnings per share decreased to $0.18 ($0.22 excluding IFRS 16 impact) from $0.25 in the prior year quarter. Beginning in the first quarter of 2019, the calculation of this item has been revised to include impairment of assets, one-off income tax items, and income tax adjustment on amortization related to acquisitions.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Cash flows from operating activities for the six months ended June 30, 2019 were $239.0 million compared to $121.9 million in the prior year period. The

improvement in operating cash flows was primarily due to the adoption of IFRS 16, which reclassifies capitalized lease payments from operating activities to financing activities. At June 30, 2019, the Company's adjusted net debt (total borrowings excluding lease obligations, minus cash) was $245.7 million resulting in adjusted net debt to adjusted EBITDA leverage of 1.0 times, compared to 1.3 times at December 31, 2018. Capital expenditures in the first half of 2019 totaled $35.2 million compared to $35.6 million in the prior year period as the result of the timing of new projects.

Operational Update As of June 30, 2019, Hudson Group operated 1,014 stores, across 89 locations, totaling 1.1 million square feet of retail space.

During the second quarter, the Company added new business through an RFP win at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport.

Earnings Conference Call Information Hudson Group will host a conference call to review its second quarter 2019 financial performance today, July 30, at 10:00 a.m. ET. Participants can pre-register for the conference by navigating to . The conference call also will be available in listen-only mode via our investor relations website: . To participate in the live call, interested parties may dial 1-833-255-2832 (toll free) or 1-412-902-6725. A web replay will be available at for three months following the call.

Website Information We routinely post important information for investors on the Investor Relations section of our website, investors.. We intend to use this website as a means of disclosing material information. Accordingly, investors should monitor the Investor Relations section of our website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, presentations and webcasts. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this document.

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