H&M: quarterly sales fall more than expected

(CercleFinance.com) - Fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz posted a drop in fourth-quarter net sales on Tuesday, blaming the second wave of the pandemic.


In its latest trading update, H&M said that net sales in the three months from 1 September to 30 November fell by 10% in local currencies from a year ago, slightly missing analysts' forecast of a 9% fall.

For financial year 2020, net sales dropped by 18% in local currencies, the Swedish clothing retailer said.

The company said the strong recovery of the third quarter continued for much of the fourth quarter, with sales between 1 September and 21 October decreasing by just by 3%.

However, between 22 October and 30 November, sales dropped by 22% as a result of the pandemic's second wave, the Stockholm-based retailer said.

"This trend is likely to be seen across the apparel industry in the fourth quarter", analysts at UBS said.

The H&M share fell over 3% on Tuesday morning after this report.

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