Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
💎 Access the Market Tools Trusted by Thousands of Investors Get Started
H&M surges after fast fashion giant posts surprise Q1 income
Author
Published Mar 30, 2023 03:24AM ET
Updated Mar 30, 2023 03:38AM ET
© Reuters.
By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com -- H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB (ST:HMb) has reported a surprise first-quarter income, as the fast fashion retailer was boosted by the consolidation of second-hand platform Sellpy into its operations.
Operating profit for the three months ended on February 28 came in at SEK725 million (SEK1 = $0.0959), up by over 58% from SEK458M in the corresponding period last year. Bloomberg consensus estimates had seen the figure slumping to a loss of SEK1.03 billion.
Operating margin, which H&M hopes to increase to 10% by next year, was 1.3% during the quarter.
Analysts also pointed to H&M's quarterly gross margin of 47.2%. Although the number dipped versus the first quarter of 2022 due to elevated purchasing costs and a strong U.S. dollar, it was still above projections of 45.8%.
Aiding the bottom-line result was a positive effect of SEK999M that stemmed primarily from an accounting gain linked to the decision to fold in Sellpy, an online portal where customers can shop for and sell used items.
Shares in H&M soared by more than 9% in early European trading on Thursday.
The announcement comes after H&M unveiled quarterly sales growth earlier this month that missed expectations. Sales moved up by 3% year-on-year on a local currency basis to SEK54.87B, but the uptick was below Bloomberg forecasts of 4.21%.
In a statement, chief executive officer Helena Helmersson noted that the trading environment remains "challenging." However, she said input cost pressures, which analysts have flagged as a key source of strain for the company, have improved, while plans to reduce expenses are "proceeding at full speed."
Related Articles
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.