H&M net sales jump 11% to SEK 171,061 mn in first 9 months

The group's profit after tax for the first 9 months increased to SEK 9,231 million, corresponding to SEK 5.58 per share.

Online sales in the third quarter increased by 30 per cent in SEK and by 25 per cent in local currencies. Gross profit increased by 13 per cent to SEK 31,815 million.

At the end of the third quarter H&M launched on Myntra, India's leading e-commerce platform, while & Other Stories opened on Tmall in China and H&M online was launched in Indonesia, followed by Thailand in September. H&M also opened its first store in Belarus, bringing us to a total of 73 markets. All the launches and openings got a good reception.

Sales of the company increased by 8 per cent in local currencies in September 2019 compared to September 2018.  

"Well-received summer collections and increased market share show that we are on the right track with our transformation work to meet customers' ever-increasing expectations. The continued development of more full-price sales and reduced markdowns contributed to a 26 per cent increase in operating profit in the third quarter, all while maintaining a high level of activity in our transformation work," said Karl-Johan Persson, CEO of H&M.

"Growth was good in many markets, including the US where sales in local currencies rose by 19 per cent, Poland by 20 per cent, Italy by 15 per cent, Russia by 12 per cent and India by 29 per cent. Sales also developed strongly in South America – in Chile, for example, where we grew by 32 per cent. However, things were a bit tougher in some of our franchise markets due to challenging macro factors. Total sales in the group increased by 12 per cent in SEK and 8 per cent in local currencies in the third quarter. The sales growth was driven by both stores and online, with a very strong increase in online sales of 30 per cent in SEK and 25 per cent in local currencies," added Persson.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (PC)