H&M: profit more than doubled in first quarter
(CercleFinance.com) - Sweden's H&M said its profit more than doubled in its first quarter to end-February, but warned that the second quarter will be "very negatively impacted" by the corona crisis.
Profit after financial items for the December to February quarter rose to 2.5 billion Swedish kronor, from 1 billion kronor in the same period one year ago, the fashion retailer said.
Its gross margin actually widened to 51% from 50%.
While the group's net sales increased by 8% in the first quarter, sales in March fell by 46% in local currencies compared with March 2019, the clothing chain said.
In its quarterly statement, H&M said that it has started implementing reduced working hours in markets affected by the corona pandemic, a decision that concerns "tens of thousands of employees".
The company - which forecasts a loss for its second quarter - is also reviewing the need to make redundancies.
In light of this, H&M has decided to propose a cancellation of its dividend to shareholders.
H&M shares were up 6.4% on Friday morning on the Nasdaq Nordic market.
Copyright (c) 2020 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.
Profit after financial items for the December to February quarter rose to 2.5 billion Swedish kronor, from 1 billion kronor in the same period one year ago, the fashion retailer said.
Its gross margin actually widened to 51% from 50%.
While the group's net sales increased by 8% in the first quarter, sales in March fell by 46% in local currencies compared with March 2019, the clothing chain said.
In its quarterly statement, H&M said that it has started implementing reduced working hours in markets affected by the corona pandemic, a decision that concerns "tens of thousands of employees".
The company - which forecasts a loss for its second quarter - is also reviewing the need to make redundancies.
In light of this, H&M has decided to propose a cancellation of its dividend to shareholders.
H&M shares were up 6.4% on Friday morning on the Nasdaq Nordic market.
Copyright (c) 2020 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.