H&M sales up 7% as it prepares to launch new brands
Sales at global fast-fashion giant H&M were up 7% during the financial year ending 30 November 2016 and the group says it is readying the launch of "one or two new brands" this year.
The Swedish group which owns the H&M, Cos, & Other Stores, Monki, Weekday and Cheap Monday brands achieved sales including VAT of SEK 222,865m in the 12-month period, an increase of 7%.
Profits however were adversely hit by a greater number of markdowns and the strength of the US dollar which led to higher purchasing costs. The group’s profit after tax amounted to SEK 18,636m (compared to SEK 20,898m in the prior year).
During the period H&M opened 427 new stores net worldwide and added three new markets; it also rolled out its online store to 11 additional markets. "This means that H&M is now present in 64 markets of which 35 offer e-commerce. We welcomed more than 13,000 new colleagues which means there are now more than 161,000 colleagues in the group," said CEO Karl-Johan Persson.
This year it plans to open approximately 430 new stores net entering five new bricks-and-mortar markets – Kazakhstan, Colombia, Iceland, Vietnam and Georgia – and six new H&M online markets – Turkey, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia.
Most of the new stores in 2017 will be H&M stores and approximately 70 to 80 stores will consist of its other brands, while it also intends to roll out further H&M Home stores.
Persson also revealed, however, that it plans to launch brand new fascias as well. "In 2017 we are looking forward to delivering strong collections and customer experiences and launching one or two new brands. This, combined with the ongoing improvements and our investments in the omni-channel offering, the supply chain and advanced analytics make us positive towards our opportunities for reaching our newly rephrased growth target, both in 2017 and going forward," he said.
