The Swedish clothing group Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) presented meager sales figures for the fourth quarter of the 2022/23 financial year on Friday.
According to preliminary results, sales in the period from September to November reached 62.6 billion Swedish crowns (5.6 billion euros), said the parent company of brands such as H&M, Cos, Monki, Weekday, & Other Stories and Arket in an interim communication. Group sales were therefore only slightly above the level of the previous year’s quarter (+0.3 percent) and missed market expectations. In the respective local currencies it fell by four percent.
In addition to the generally weak demand, the discontinuation of activities in Russia and Belarus had a negative impact on development. Adjusted for this factor, quarterly revenues rose by three percent (-1 percent adjusted for currency effects), according to the clothing supplier.
Annual sales increase by six percent
Overall, Hennes & Mauritz recently performed significantly weaker than its Spanish competitor Inditex, which includes the Zara textile chain. On Wednesday, it reported a currency-adjusted sales increase of 14 percent for the period from November 1st to December 11th.
In the entire 2022/23 financial year, Hennes & Mauritz’s consolidated sales amounted to 236.0 billion Swedish crowns (21.0 billion euros), which corresponded to an increase of six percent compared to the previous year. The company plans to publish its full annual results on January 31st.