The chief government officer of Scandinavian clothes big H&M, Helena Helmersson, introduced Wednesday she was stepping down, sending shares within the style retailer down because the Swedish agency reported lower-than-expected earnings within the fourth quarter.
Helmersson, who has spent 4 years on the helm and mentioned the job had been “very demanding at times for me personally,” shall be changed by Daniel Erver, who has labored for the group for 18 years in varied roles and most just lately as head of the H&M model.
The group’s shares plunged by 9% on the Stockholm inventory alternate after the announcement.
The Swedish group, the world’s second-biggest style retailer after Zara’s mother or father firm Inditex, posted a internet revenue of 8.75 billion kronor ($840 million) in 2023, a 2.5-fold enhance from a 12 months earlier, citing increased gross sales and improved margins.
“Our improvement work in the supply chain and the continued normalization of the external factors that influence purchasing costs resulted in a stronger gross margin,” H&M mentioned in an announcement.
“For many consumers, the year was marked by lower purchasing power because of high inflation and interest rates. Despite this, our net sales in comparable markets increased compared to 2022,” it mentioned.
Net gross sales rose by 6% for the total 12 months to 236 billion kronor.
But within the fourth quarter, the style big reported a 4% drop in internet gross sales in native currencies.
H&M’s internet revenue within the fourth quarter reached 1.58 billion kronor, up from a internet lack of 864 million kronor a 12 months earlier.
But it fell far in need of analyst expectations of a revenue of three.12 billion kronor, in line with a Bloomberg survey.
Operating revenue for the 12 months greater than doubled to 14.5 billion kronor, comparable to an working margin that nearly doubled throughout the interval, from 3.2 to six.2%
The firm’s fiscal 12 months runs from December to November.
The firm’s withdrawal from Russia in 2022 after Moscow invaded Ukraine and a cost-cutting program value it nearly 2.6 billion kronor.
The group, which, along with H&M, contains manufacturers corresponding to COS, Arket, & Other Stories and Monki, mentioned it noticed “good conditions for continued profitable and sustainable growth in 2024.”
It goals to “increase sales by 10-15% per year with continued high profitability.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com