H&M has posted a huge increase in quarterly sales helped by the easing of restrictions across its markets, though they remain below pre-pandemic levels.
The Swedish fashion giant is now eyeing recovery as vaccine rollouts progress, with online sales developing “very well” even if stores are open.
At the start of the second quarter around 1,300 stores were temporarily closed while those that were open faced limitations on opening hours, number of customers and store space.
In some of the group’s largest markets such as France and Germany the stores were closed continuously almost throughout the quarter.
At the end of the period, most of the H&M group’s markets still had restrictions resulting in reduced footfall and around 140 of the stores globally remained temporarily closed.
In the three months to 31 May, net sales climbed 75% in local currencies or 62% in Swedish krona, which strengthened over the period, to 46.5bn crowns (£3.9bn).