STOCKHOLM: Swedish clothing retail giant Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) reported a better than expected third quarter profit on Thursday, but said it was closing stores as Covid-19 was pushing more shoppers online.
The company said it was planning on shutting 350 out of its around 5,000 stores worldwide in 2021, while only opening 100 new ones.
“The rapid changes in customer behavior have been accelerated by Covid-19. The H&M group is therefore now stepping up the pace of its transformation,” the company said in its quarterly report.
Net profit for the period from June to August came in at 1.8 billion Swedish kronor ($201 million, 172 million euros), compared to 3.9 billion kronor for the same period a year earlier.
Revenue fell 18.7 percent to 51 billion kronor.
At the same time online sales, which currently only represent a quarter of total sales, grew by 28 percent during the third quarter in local currencies.
Pre-tax profit came in at 2.4 billion kronor, an improvement over the 2.0 billion kronor reported in preliminary results published in mid-September.
“Our recovery is going better than expected... With more full-price sales than expected and strict cost control, we returned to profit already in the third quarter,” CEO Helena Helmersson said in a statement.
In its second quarter H&M posted a net loss of some five billion kronor, compared to a net profit of 4.6 billion a year earlier while revenue halved to 28.7 billion kronor.
At midday on the Stockholm stock exchange, shares in H&M were up seven percent.
Fashion retailers, especially fast-fashion brands like H&M, have been hit hard by the ongoing pandemic.
In mid-April, the Scandinavian company temporarily closed around 80 percent of its stores worldwide.
Currently, three percent, or 166 shops, remain shut.
H&M to close stores as Covid-19 pushes shoppers online
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H&M to close stores as Covid-19 pushes shoppers online
- Online sales, which currently only represent a quarter of total sales, grew by 28 percent during the third quarter in local currencies
- In its second quarter H&M posted a net loss of some five billion kronor
India seals $3bn LNG agreement with UAE
- Leaders hold talks to strengthen trade, defense ties
NEW DELHI, DUBAI: India signed a $3 billion deal on Monday to buy liquefied natural gas from the UAE, making it the Gulf country’s top customer, as the leaders of both countries held talks to strengthen trade and defense ties.
The agreement was signed during a very brief two-hour visit to India by UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan for talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
They pledged to double bilateral trade to $200 billion in six years and form a strategic defense partnership.
Abu Dhabi state firm ADNOC Gas will supply 0.5 million tonnes of LNG a year to India’s Hindustan Petroleum Corp. for 10 years, the companies said.
ADNOC Gas said the agreement brings the total value of its contracts with India to over $20 billion.
“India is now the UAE’s largest customer and a very important part of ADNOC Gas’ LNG strategy,” the company said.
The UAE is India’s third largest trading partner and Sheikh Mohammed was accompanied by a government delegation that included his defense and foreign ministers. The two sides signed a letter of intent to work toward forming a strategic defense partnership, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters.
Misri, however, said that the signing of the letter of intent with the UAE does not mean that India will get involved in regional conflicts.
“Our involvement on the defense and security front with a country from the region does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that we will get involved in particular ways in the conflicts of the region,” he said.
