The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Hennes & Mauritz AB reported its lowest first-quarter profit in 16 years as extreme and rapid weather swings made it even harder for the Swedish fashion retailer to sell a buildup of unsold garments.
Operating profit fell 62 percent to 1.2 billion kronor ($150 million) in the three months through February, the company said in a statement Tuesday. Analysts expected 1.4 billion kronor.
H&M’s already-downbeat forecast for the start of 2018 was exacerbated by unseasonably warm European weather in January followed by February’s cold snap, whipsawing the clothing retail industry. That forced the company to slash prices even more to clear its biggest inventory position in at least two decades.
Stock-in-trade increased 7 percent to 35 billion kronor at the end of the first quarter, amounting to 17.6 percent of sales.
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Last month, H&M forecast sales in comparable stores to drop this year and return to growth in fiscal 2019.
By Anna Molin; editors: Christopher Kingdon, Thomas Mulier and John J. Edwards III.
In 2020, like many companies, the $50 billion yoga apparel brand created a new department to improve internal diversity and inclusion, and to create a more equitable playing field for minorities. In interviews with BoF, 14 current and former employees said things only got worse.
For fashion’s private market investors, deal-making may provide less-than-ideal returns and raise questions about the long-term value creation opportunities across parts of the fashion industry, reports The State of Fashion 2024.
A blockbuster public listing should clear the way for other brands to try their luck. That, plus LVMH results and what else to watch for in the coming week.
L Catterton, the private-equity firm with close ties to LVMH and Bernard Arnault that’s preparing to take Birkenstock public, has become an investment giant in the consumer-goods space, with stakes in companies selling everything from fashion to pet food to tacos.