Profit up 36 % in its first quarter
In the company’s first quarter, which ran until the end of February, profit grew 36 % to 3.6 billion Swedish krona, some 390 million euro. Turnover in the same period grew 25 % to 40.3 billion krona, some 4.3 billion euro.
“We have made a very good start to 2015 – in terms of both sales and profits. Our attractive customer offering and strong expansion both through stores and online, as well as our work on continuous improvement, are among the reasons for increased market share gains and good profits”, CEO Karl-Johan Persson said.
Confirmed: H&M to open Belgian web shop soon
H&M is also fully focused on its online expansion: as announced in November 2014, the company will expand its web shop to Belgium this spring. Next on the list are Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, while Swiss citizens will have to wait until the fall to get their own web shop.
Obviously, the Swedish company will also expand offline: it opened its first store in Taiwan in February and for the full year, it intends to open another 400 stores (across all brands). Peru, Macau, India and South Africa will all get their very first Hennes & Mauritz stores, while Herald Square in New York will welcome a brand-new flagship store. Its size, 5,700 sqm, places it near the top of H&M’s largest stores worldwide
