H&M sales rose 8% year-on-year in its third fiscal quarter

Copenhagen, Sep 16 (EFE) .- The Swedish fashion chain Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) increased its sales by 8% year-on-year in the third quarter of its fiscal year (June-August), accounted for in local currencies, the Monday said company.

Converted to Swedish crowns, sales rose 12% over the same period of 2018 to 62,572 million crowns (5,871 million euros).

"Our well-received summer collections and the market shares won show that the H&M group is on track in its work of change to meet the growing expectations of our customers," the company said in a statement.

H&M notes that the company's transformation process, which includes a greater commitment to electronic commerce, continued to be "high" in the third quarter of the fiscal year.

The main competitor of the Spanish firm Inditex, owner of brands such as Zara and Massimo Dutti, presented in its last balance sheet for the first half (December-May) a net profit of 5,372 million crowns (510 million euros), a 10, 6% less year-on-year.

H&M attributed the fall in the profit margin to the "mitigating effect" that the management-driven process has on the result to adapt to the "rapid changes" in the fashion retail sector, according to the balance released last June.