H&M Q1 sales rise meets expectations, gets currency exchange boost

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 15, 2019

H&M isn’t exactly known for sharing lots of information when it release its quarterly sales figures so on Friday its Q1 numbers were frustratingly short on detail.

The Swedish fashion retail giant promised more information to come with its full quarterly results on March 29, but for now, all we know is that its sales seemed to rise strongly in the three months to February 29.

The company said net sales rose as much as 10% in the quarter to reach SEK51.015 billion (€4.9bn/£4.1bn/$5.5bn). Although it appears to have got an extra push from currency exchange effects as they rose ‘only’ 4% in local currencies.

But it was encouraging news from the world’s second biggest fashion retailer and following Inditex’s report earlier this week that current year sales are continuing to rise, it showed that some companies are able to prosper in a global environment that’s extremely tough for fashion chains.

The figures were also bang in line with analyst expectations (although its shares fell in early Friday trading) and continued the trend of Q4 in which currency effects favoured H&M. It bodes well for profits and although the firm's pre-tax profit had fallen back in Q4, the company hailed its ability to achieve “stronger collections and increased full-price sales”. It looks like that ability is continuing.