Profit during the third quarter, i.e. the period June 1-Aug. 31, amounted to just over SEK 6 billion. Market expectations were for SEK 5.3 billion.
However, the biggest focus ahead of the report has been on the company's sales, which have not really picked up for a long time. They now amounted to SEK 57.2 billion, in line with the market forecast but an increase of "only" 1 percent.
"Our summer collections were well received and contributed to improved sales performance, especially during the final part of the quarter. At the same time, sales were affected by, among other things, continued disruptions in the logistics network in Europe and in the global supply chain," writes the company's CEO Daniel Ervér in the company report.
Decline in Southern Europe
Broken down by region, a decline is particularly noticeable in southern and western Europe, while the company can report a sales increase for the Nordic region.
Regarding sales in September, that is, outside the reporting period, the forecast is also for a slight increase (1 percent) compared with the previous year.
H&M has previously set a target of achieving an operating margin of 10 percent. For this individual quarter, it has now succeeded in doing so (10.6 percent). At the same time, the company writes that the result was “positively affected by one-off effects of approximately 1.6 percentage points from customs duties and goods imports that increased the cost of goods sold in previous quarters.”
This is about the tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed on goods to the United States but then had to back down.
The company also announces that for the full year 2026, 90 new physical stores are planned to be opened and approximately 170 to be closed, but does not specify in which markets the closures will take place.
