Swedish fashion group H&M saw its second quarter turnover grew 5 % to 51.4 billion Swedish krona (5.3 billion euro), excluding exchange rate fluctuations. Net profit went up 6 % to 5.9 billion krona, some 600 million euro.
Strong online sales
The web shops for H&M’s different brands performed exceptionally well in the second quarter. In some markets, the online sales already contribute 25 to 30 % of the country’s total turnover. H&M also launched six new web shops: Taiwan, Hongkong, Macau, Singapore, Turkey and Malaysia. It now has an online presence in 41 markets.
“Sales in the UK, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe as well as in many of our growth markets were good. However, it was more challenging in several of our major markets such as the US, China, the Netherlands and Switzerland”, CEO Karl-Johan Persson said. “H&M’s online sales developed very well and continued to increase its share of total sales. The development of COS, & Other Stories, Monki, Weekday and H&M Home remained very strong, both in stores and online.”
Forecast
H&M also made several forecasts for the rest of the year: it will launch web shops in the Philippines and Cyprus and its new ARKET brand will also launch with five new store openings and web shops in 18 countries.
The company will also invest in its online strategy to help grow its eCommerce turnover at least 25 % over the next few years. For instance, it will open a new online market in India in 2018.
