Swedish fast fashion retailer H&M has hailed its transformation work as the group reported a double-digit rise in second-quarter sales.
In a statement on its sales development in the period, H&M said for the period from 1 March to 31 May, group net sales increased by 11% to SEK57.47bn (US$6.1bn). The figure compares with SEK51.98bn last year. In local currencies, net sales increased by 6%.
Shares in the group were up by more than 2% on the news this morning.
H&M has battled with slowing sales and falling profits in the last few years as a result of declining footfall due to changes in customer behaviour, particularly in its namesake stores.
In March, however, the retailer offered an optimistic outlook on the year ahead, with CEO Karl-Johan Persson confident the retailer’s transformation work is “having an effect”, despite a drop in first-quarter profit.
“The rapid changes in the fashion industry continue and we can see that our own transformation work is taking us in the right direction, although hard work and many challenges still remain,” H&M said today. “As customer satisfaction and sales increase, we have intensified our transformation work even further.”
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By GlobalDataThe group operates over 4,900 stores in 72 markets under brands including H&M, COS, Monki, Weekday, & Other Stories and Arket.
H&M will publish its six-month report for 2019 on 27 June, covering the period 1 December 2018 to 31 May 2019.
