H&M sales increases 4% in 2017

In the fourth quarter of 2017, sales including VAT amounted to SEK 58,454 million (61,098). Sales excluding VAT amounted to SEK 50,390 million (52,720), a decrease of 4 per cent compared to the corresponding quarter last year. In local currencies, sales decreased by 2 per cent.

"The H&M brand’s online sales and sales of the group’s other brands continued to develop well. Meanwhile, the fourth quarter was weak for the H&M brand’s physical stores, which were negatively affected by a continued challenging market situation with reduced footfall to stores due to the ongoing shift in the industry. In addition, there have been imbalances in parts of the H&M brand’s assortment composition. In order to correct this, a number of actions have been taken. Moreover, the management team of the H&M brand has recently been strengthened," Karl-Johan Persson, CEO, said.

"In order to respond even quicker to customers’ fast-changing behaviour the company’s ongoing transformation journey is being accelerated. Among other things, this includes continued integration of the physical and digital stores, and intensifying the optimisation of the H&M brand’s store portfolio – leading to more store closures and fewer openings," concluded Persson. (RR)

ALCHEMPro News Desk – India