H&M shares surge on strong sales

Shares in H&M jumped 32 percent after reporting strong sales growth.

The fashion retailer, which owns Cos and Monki, reported a third-quarter rise in sales of 11 percent.

Despite the rise in sales, profits in the group were down 19 percent to 3.1 billion krona ($350 million; £267 million).

H&M has said that the fall in 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”, which have “largely” been resolved.

Chief executive Karl-Johan Persson said: “The rapid changes in the fashion industry are continuing and the H&M group is in an exciting transitional period.”

“Our transformation work has contributed to a gradual improvement in sales development with increased market share in most markets during the third quarter, particularly in Germany, Sweden, Eastern Europe, Russia and China.”

The group has 4,700 stores across the world and employs 171,000 people. It has stores in 69 countries, with the US, Germany and the UK accounting for its top three markets.

H&M’s online rival Boohoo reported a surge in profits and sales increase by 50 percent to £395 million in the six months to 31 August.

As retailers shift to online shopping, H&M has kept up with the trend by investing £530 million – 45 percent of its total investments – in its online business last year.

Shares in the group (CPH: HM-B) are currently trading up 10.98 percent at 164,78 (1601GMT).

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Safiya Bashir
Safiya focuses on business and political stories for UK Investor Magazine. Her interests include international development, travel and politics.