Fashion retailer H&M surprises with profit but March sales disappoint | Business

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Fashion retailer H&M reported a surprise operating profit for the December to February period as cost-cutting measures started to bear fruit despite consumers curbing spending, but said a cold spell was holding back sales in March. | News24_Business

While H&M showed signs of bringing its costs under control, it still struggled to compete with major rival Inditex, owner of Zara and other brands, as well as rapidly expanding fast fashion online retailers such as SHEIN and Temu.

Still, shares in the company jumped by 8% in early trading after the results - a move traders said was amplified by short positions on the stock. Analysts at Credit Suisse said it would be"very challenging" for H&M to return to a 10% margin in 2024. H&M said net sales for March were expected to increase by 4% in local currencies compared with the corresponding period last year. That's a slight acceleration after sales for the first quarter were up 3% from last year, but lags the competition.

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