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H&M gross profit up 26 percent in Q1

By Prachi Singh

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Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) in the first quarter from December 1, 2014 to February 28, 2015 reported rise in sales including VAT in local currencies by 15 percent. Converted into SEK, sales excluding VAT amounted to 40, 276 million Swedish krona (4,724.7 million dollars), an increase of 25 percent. Gross profit increased by 26 percent corresponding to a gross margin of 55.2 percent.

Profit after financial items increased by 35 percent and the group’s profit after tax increased to 3,613 million Swedish krona (423.9 million dollars), corresponding to 2.18 Swedish krona (0.26 dollar) per share, an increase of 36 percent. H&M’s first store in Taipei, Taiwan, was well received on its opening in mid-February.

Commenting on the first quarter results, Karl-Johan Persson, CEO of H&M said, “We have made a very good start to 2015 – in terms of both sales and profits. Our attractive customer offering and strong expansion both through stores and online, as well as our work on continuous improvement, are among the reasons for increased market share gains and good profits.”

Sales in the period from March 1 to March 21, 2015 increased by 9 percent in local currencies compared to the same period last year. The H&M group plans a net addition of around 400 new stores for the financial year 2014/2015. New markets for store expansion in 2015 are, Taiwan, which opened in February, Peru and Macau which will open towards the end of the first half-year, and South Africa and India, which will open during the second half-year. Nine new online markets will open in 2015: Portugal, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Belgium will open during the spring and Switzerland will open in the autumn.

H&M