STOCKHOLM (AP) – Swedish low-cost fashion brand Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) AB said yesterday that its net sales in local currencies have increased by eight per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021 to SEK56 billion (USD6 billion) back at pre-pandemic level with the full year net sales increasing by six per cent to SEK199 billion (USD21 billion).
The Stockholm-based group said its gross profit for the fourth quarter increased by 14 per cent to SEK31.3 billion (USD3.3 billion) while for the whole year it increased to SEK105 billion (USD11 billion), up from SEK93.5 billion.
Chief Executive Helena Helmersson said the group “ended the year strongly, with sales back at the same level as before the pandemic and with profitability better than it has been for several years”.
She said H&M was “back to a more normalised situation” and that “we have demonstrated our ability to quickly adapt and seize opportunities that arise”.
Helmersson said the group was “optimistic” about the future. The group said it was to double sales while at the same time halving its carbon footprint by 2030 at latest.
In 2022 H&M will launch in six new markets: the first stores will open in Ecuador, Kosovo and North Macedonia, and via franchise in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Cambodia. The rollout of H&M online continues in 2022 with Belarus, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Peru and Ukraine.
