SWEDEN: H&M's December Sales Fall Short Of Forecasts

By just-style.com | 15 January 2002

Leading international fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz, announced on Tuesday that its December sales rose 10 per cent year-on-year - far less than market expectations where analysts had forecast a 20.5 per cent annual increase.

The Swedish-based firm said in a statement that a substantially lower stock level was to blame for the lower than expected sales increase and added that the previous December, sales had risen only seven per cent due to unseasonal weather.

It added: "Lower price reductions have resulted in a considerably improved gross margin for the period."

Last November, H&M's sales rose 20 percent - slightly below market expectations. It blamed that shortfall on the fall in consumer spending in the US in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.