H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB Three-Month Report

STOCKHOLM--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

H & M Hennes & Mauritz (STO:HMB):

1 December 2012 – 28 February 2013

FIRST QUARTER

• The H&M Group’s sales including VAT increased in local currencies by 6 percent during the first quarter. Sales in the quarter have been negatively affected by calendar effects by slightly more than 2 percentage points. Converted into SEK, sales excluding VAT amounted to SEK 28,392 m (27,832), an increase of 2 percent. The difference in sales performance in local currencies versus SEK is explained by substantial negative currency translation effects as a result of the continued strengthening of the Swedish krona against most sales countries’ currencies.
• Gross profit amounted to SEK 15,679 m (15,537), corresponding to a gross margin of 55.2 percent (55.8). Increased markdowns have negatively affected the gross margin by 0.5 percentage points in relation to sales compared to the corresponding quarter last year.
• Profit after financial items amounted to SEK 3,234 m (3,701). The Group’s profit after tax amounted to SEK 2,458 m (2,739), corresponding to SEK 1.49 (1.65) per share. Profits have been negatively affected by large long-term investments but also by substantial negative currency translation effects.

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• Fantastic reception for the new fashion brand & Other Stories launched in March.
• H&M is ramping up the pace of expansion. The expansion plan for financial year 2013 has been increased to around 350 new stores net from the 325 previously planned.
• Chile, Estonia, Lithuania, Serbia and, via franchise, Indonesia will become new H&M markets in 2013.
• Australia will become a new market for H&M in 2014.
• An extended sports concept will be launched at the beginning of 2014.

Comments by CEO Karl-Johan Persson

“The first quarter has been characterised by the continued challenging situation for the fashion retail industry in many of our markets mainly due to a continued tough macro-economic climate, but also due to unfavourable weather during parts of the quarter. This meant that sales in the first quarter did not reach our expectations. The reported sales increase in SEK has been affected by substantial negative currency translation and calendar effects of almost SEK 2 billion – adjusted for these negative effects the sales increase was 8 percent.

Our new fashion brand & Other Stories has been tremendously well received at its launch this March. Sales, both in stores and online, have far exceeded our high expectations. This clearly shows that the long-term work behind the development of & Other Stories has been completely right. This opens the possibility that & Other Stories can expand more widely and faster than we originally planned. We see great potential for & Other Stories in both the short and the long term, and are convinced that our new brand will become an important part of the H&M Group.

2013 will be a challenging and exciting year with continued strong expansion. We are ramping up the rate of expansion to approximately 350 new stores net compared to the originally planned 325. We will open in five new countries in 2013 and are also preparing to open in other countries in 2014, such as in Australia. We are also continuing to work on our long-term investments in IT, online, & Other Stories and the broadening of our range. An example of this will be the launch of H&M’s updated and extended sports concept for women, men and children at the beginning of 2014. The range will be significantly broader than today and will consist of sportswear and accessories in specially developed functional materials suited to various kinds of sporting activities.”

The information in this Interim Report is that which H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) is required to disclose under Sweden’s Securities Market Act. It will be released for publication at 8.00 (CET) on 21 March 2013.

http://mb.cision.com/Main/769/9389008/105140.pdf

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) was founded in Sweden in 1947 and is quoted on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. The company’s business concept is to offer fashion and quality at the best price. In addition to H&M, the group includes the brands COS, Monki, Weekday and Cheap Monday, & Other Stories as well as H&M Home. The H&M Group has more than 2,800 stores in 48 markets including franchise markets. In 2012, sales including VAT were SEK 140,948 million and the number of employees was more than 104,000. For further information, visit www.hm.com.

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