H&M shares fell more than 14% on Thursday morning after the company reported a smaller-than-expected increase in second-quarter profit and cast doubt on June sales and its profit margin target for the year. whole year.
The world’s second-largest retailer said operating profit in the March-May period was 7.1 billion Swedish kronor ($672 million), below the 7.37 billion Swedish krona analysts had expected, according to with an LSEG survey cited by Reuters.
The result for the second quarter was, however, higher than the 4.7 billion SEK recorded in the same period last year.
The company also said that bad weather (in northern Europe) is expected to hurt sales in June, which it expects to be down 6% compared to the same period last year.
In a new headwind for the stock, H&M CEO Daniel Ervér questioned the company’s ability to meet its profit margin target this year.
“Our full-year 2024 operating margin target of 10% remains in place,” he said. “However, the conditions to reach this level this year have become more difficult, as external factors affecting purchasing costs and sales revenue are estimated to have a greater negative impact than we expected in the second half of the year” .
naftemporiki.gr with information from CNBC