H&M sales recover in March as stores reopen after lockdown

[STOCKHOLM] Sales at fashion group H&M fell slightly less than expected in the three months through February and rose in the first half of March as pandemic restrictions were eased in some markets, allowing hundreds of stores to reopen.

The world's second-biggest apparel retailer said on Monday net sales fell 27 per cent from a year earlier, or 21 per cent measured in local currencies, to 40.1 billion crowns (S$6.35 billion).

Analysts had on average forecast a 30 per cent decline in net sales in the period - H&M's fiscal first quarter - according to Refinitiv SmartEstimate.

"Sales development was significantly affected by the Covid-19 situation, with extensive restrictions and at most over 1,800 stores temporarily closed," H&M said in a statement.

"Since the beginning of February, a number of markets have gradually allowed stores to reopen and at the end of the quarter around 1,300 stores remained temporarily closed." H&M said sales in the March 1-13 period were up 10 per cent in local currencies as many countries, including its biggest market Germany, begun allowing some stores to reopen. On March 13, around 900 of H&M's around 5,000 stores remained closed due to government lockdowns to fight the pandemic.

REUTERS