H&M sales tumbled in May quarter

H&M says its sales decline in May was slightly below expectations, and less dramatic than during March and April as stores began to reopen across Asia and Europe.

The Swedish-headquartered fast-fashion retailer said net sales in the three months to May 31 were down by 50 percent year on year to US$3.1 billion.

More encouragingly, sales in the first 13 days of June were down 30 percent, suggesting a gradual return of customers to stores.

H&M has 5058 stores worldwide and almost one in five of those remain shuttered due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said in a statement.

The decline in sales was less than at rival Inditex, the parent of Zara, which last week reported a 34-per-cent decline in the week of June 2 to 8.

But an H&M spokesperson said the pace of the sales recovery “varies largely between markets” around the world.