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The corona pandemic has meant a nightmare for Swedish clothing giant H&M and a rocky start for new CEO Helena Helmersson.
In the second quarter of the year, the company lost 50 percent of sales in local currencies and posted a loss of SEK 6.2 billion.
– Of course, this is not what I saw in front of me, Helena Helmersson said in June.
H&M loses 16 percent
New figures are now presented for the third quarter, June-August. H & M’s sales continue to decline and the loss reaches 16 percent in local currencies.
This is exactly what analysts expected.
Converted to SEK, net sales declined 19 percent to just under SEK 51 billion.
It is still a race, but much smaller than the previous quarter.
“As we reopen our stores, sales have started to recover at a faster rate than expected.”Helena Helmersson wrote in a comment this summer.
H&M now notes that the third quarter was also hit hard by the corona pandemic. It entered in June with some 900 stores closed, out of a little more than 5,000, but has been able to open more and more during the summer.
At the end of August, just over 200 were still temporarily closed.
H&M tracks earnings
At the same time, H&M appears to have turned its brackish loss into earnings over the summer.
“As a result of appreciated collections and quick and powerful measures, the H&M Group’s recovery is going better than expected. More full-price sales in combination with strong cost control have led the company to profit as early as the third quarter. “it says in a press release.
On a preliminary basis, the clothing company expects a pre-tax profit of approximately SEK 2 billion. The quarterly report will be presented on October 1.
Expert: H&M may be one of the winners
“It clearly looks better for HM as well as the economy as a whole,” says Joakim Bornold, a savings economist at Söderberg and Partners, in a comment.
It says that H&M can have a good quarter thanks to improved sales and good cost control.
– The question is whether HM cannot come out of this crisis as one of the winners. Many of the competitors have it much more complicated.
