Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) posted a 42.54 per cent rise in sales in India to 2,007 million Swedish krona (around Rs 1,486 crore) for the fiscal ended November 2019. The company had posted sales of 1,408 million Swedish krona (around Rs 1,043 crore) in 2018, the H&M group said in its full-year report.
H&M, which follows the December-November financial year, also added eight more stores during the period in India, totalling to a network of 47 stores. Besides, H&M also plans to roll out a customer loyalty programme in India.
"H&M upgraded the customer loyalty programme and now has more than 65 million members in 19 markets and will continue to be rolled out to additional markets in 2020, including India and South Korea," the company said in a post-earning statement.
In 2019, H&M launched a range of products on leading e-commerce platform Myntra, besides having presence in the online segment through its own channel.
The H&M group's global net sales increased 11 per cent to SEK 232,755 million in the 2019 financial year and the gross profit increased to SEK 122,453 million. SEK is an abbreviation for Swedish krona.
"Sales growth was good in many markets in the fourth quarter. In India, sales increased 33 per cent in local currency, in Poland by 21 per cent, in Mexico by 18 per cent and in Russia by 12 per cent.
In Sweden, sales increased by 7 per cent, while sales in the US and the UK increased by 6 and 3 per cent, respectively, said H&M Chief Executive Officer Karl-Johan Persson said.
Australia is scheduled to become a new H&M online market in the second half of 2020, while in South Korea, it will launch the brand on the e-commerce platform SSG.COM.
The group is also increasingly integrating online and physical stores for optimisation of the store portfolio.
"Around 200 new stores are planned to open in 2020, mainly in growth markets, while at the same time, consolidation will continue with around 175 planned store closures, mainly in established markets. The net addition of new stores for full-year 2020 is expected to be around 25," the statement said.
H&M India Country Manager Janne Einola said, "We are delighted with the India results. Within 5 years in the country, Rs 1,500 crore sales show that the customers are happy with H&M's business idea."
He added that the company looks forward to the Indian design collaboration with Sabyasachi tie-up coming soon.
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