H&M posts strong quarterly sales growth

Swedish fashion retailer H&M has posted an increase in third quarter sales helped by a drive to revamp the business and resolve an inventory backlog.

Sales at H&M saw an 11 per cent increase, aided by a 32 per cent jump in online sales for the nine months to August 31.

The retailer said the rise came despite profits falling 19 per cent to SEK 3.1 billion (AU$490 million) from the previous corresponding period.

The second biggest clothing chain said the fall in third quarter profits was caused by “problems that arose during the implementation of new logistics systems in the US, France, Italy and Belgium during the spring (that) led to extraordinary costs,” though noted that these have now been “largely” resolved.

The new logistics systems are an essential part of our work to make our supply chain faster, more flexible and more efficient, and to continue the integration of stores and online,” H&M chief exeuctive Karl-Johan Persson said.

The retailer, which also owns Cos, Arket and Monki, had invested about 45 per cent of its total investments in its online business in 2017 in order to keep with with the trend.

We are continuing to optimise the store portfolio in order to accommodate customers’ changed shopping patterns in the ongoing shift online,” Persson said.

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