“Strong sales development for all our brands”
In the 1 December 2014 – 31 May 2015 time frame, H&M had a 23 % turnover increase (excluding VAT) to 86.1 billion Swedish krona (9.4 billion euro) thanks to advantageous exchange rates. In local currencies, the turnover increase was a “mere” 12 %. Net profit grew 19 % to 10.1 billion krona (1.1 billion euro).
“The strong sales development has continued for all our brands”, a satisfied CEO, Karl-Johan Persson said in a statement regarding the six-month results. The Swedish fashion giant released the statement early this morning.
Beauty products in July
H&M launched several long-term investments last year and those have paid off immediately: “These investments enable us to be a natural part of our customers’ increasingly digital world, where the boundary between shopping online and in physical stores is becoming more and more seamless”, Persson said. In March and April, H&M opened web shops in 8 new countries (including Belgium) “which were all very well received”.
The company will also continue to broaden its product range, with a brand-new ‘H&M Beauty’ collection in July, filled with beauty products. It even contains a premium line and a ecologically-safe collection, available in 900 stores.
Obviously, the group will also open a whole range of new stores, no less than 400 this year alone, mainly in the United States and China. Hennes & Mauritz also seeks to enter 5 new markets soon, like South Africa, India and Peru. At the end of May, the Swedish retailer had 3,369 stores worldwide.
