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They have now climbed 53% this year on hopes the group has
embarked on a road to recovery after slowing footfall at its
core H&M-branded stores caused years of sliding group profits,
mounting inventories and shrinking market value.
Over the past few years the Swedish-based retailer has invested
in online services, new store concepts and independent brands to
broaden its customer base and turn itself around.
H&M said its sales in September-November, its fourth quarter,
were held back by the Black Friday shopping day falling later
this year.
It said sales for the quarter rose 9% to 61.7 billion crowns
($6.41 billion). Analysts had forecast a 10% rise, according to
Refinitiv SmartEstimates.
In local currencies, growth was 5%.
"Black Friday this year fell a week later, i.e. just before the
end of the month of November," H&M said in a statement.
"Therefore some of the big Black Friday online sales will not be
recognized until December. The amount in question is
expected to be approximately 500 million crowns."
H&M said that adjusted for that, sales grew 10%, or 6% in local
currencies and analysts said that stripping out the Black Friday
impact, sales broadly matched expectations.
Rival Inditex <ITX.MC>, the world's biggest clothing retailer
and owner of the Zara chain, said last week its net profit grew
14% in the three months through October, helped by sales growth
of 9% according to Reuters' calculation and shrinking
inventories.
RBC analyst Richard Chamberlain, with an "outperform" rating on
H&M's shares, said H&M's sales figures indicated the retailer
had gained share in major markets such as Germany, H&M's biggest
market, where industry-wide in-store sales shrank by an
estimated 4%.
In the third quarter, H&M had increased profit for the first
time in more than two years as heavy spending to meet changes in
the market helped sales reach 8% growth in local currencies - a
pace last seen three years ago.
Analysts expect full-year profits to grow for the first time
since 2015, despite still-high inventory and investment levels.
H&M, which is controlled by the founding Persson family, is
scheduled to publish its full earnings report on Jan. 30.
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Helena Soderpalm and
Susan Fenton)
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