Hennes & Mauritz performs well in challenging environment

29 Sep '11

3 min read

Hennes & Mauritz Ab (H&M) announced Nine-Month Report.

NINE MONTHS
The H&M Group's sales including VAT increased by 9 percent in local currencies in the first nine months of the financial year. Sales in comparable units were unchanged. Sales in SEK were strongly negatively affected by currency translation effects. Converted into SEK, sales excluding VAT amounted to SEK 79,047 m (78,772).

Profit after financial items amounted to SEK 14,140 m (17,830). Group profit after tax was SEK 10,464 m (13,194), corresponding to SEK 6.32 (7.97) per share.

THE THIRD QUARTER
The H&M Group's sales including VAT increased by 5 percent in local currencies in the third quarter. Sales decreased by 3 percent in comparable units. Converted into SEK, sales excluding VAT amounted to SEK 26,912 m (26,893).

Gross profit amounted to SEK 15,766 m (16,279), corresponding to a gross margin of 58.6 percent (60.5).

Profit after financial items amounted to SEK 4,850 m (5,735). Group profit after tax was SEK 3,589 m (4,244), corresponding to SEK 2.17 (2.56) per share.

H&M's first store in Singapore opened in September and was very well received.

Increased expansion for the financial year 2011 from 250 to approximately 265 new stores net.

The autumn collections have been well received even though the start of the season has been negatively affected by unseasonably warm weather in large parts of Europe. Sales in the period 1 – 27 September 2011 increased by 3 percent in local currencies compared to the same period last year.

COS and Monki launched online sales in 18 markets at the end of September 2011.

Indonesia and Thailand are scheduled to become new franchise markets for H&M during 2012.
Comments on the third quarter by Karl-Johan Persson, CEO

”H&M continues to gain market share in a challenging environment for the fashion retail industry. This shows H&M's strong market position and we see it as a proof that customers appreciate our work on the customer offering.

We have great respect for the current economic climate. In this situation, it is extra important to have a long-term perspective and to always make sure that we give customers the best combination of fashion and quality for their money in every market.

We have a strong business concept, a strong financial position and we are continuing to grow with high profitability. We are increasing our expansion for full-year 2011 to approximately 265 new stores net, from the originally planned 250.”

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB was founded in Sweden in 1947 and is quoted on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. The company's business concept is to offer fashion and quality at the best price. In addition to H&M, the group includes the brands COS, Monki, Weekday and Cheap Monday as well as H&M Home.

Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M)

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