H&M has posted an uptick in fourth-quarter sales as the group remained on track to deliver an increase in full-year profits for the first time in four years.
The Swedish fashion giant said revenues rose 9% to SEK61.7bn (£4.9bn) during the three months to November 30. In local currencies, sales growth amounted to 5%.
However, the total missed analysts’ expectations of SEK66bn (£5.3bn).
H&M said sales during the quarter were held back by the Black Friday discount frenzy falling later in November than it did in 2018.
H&M said “some of the big Black Friday online sales will not be recognised until December. The amount in question is expected to be approximately SEK500m (£40m).”
Adjusted for the impact of a later Black Friday, H&M said sales grew 10%, or 6% in local currencies.
The retailer has ramped up investment into its online operations and new store concepts over the past few years, while it is also reining in the amount it sells on discount.
In October, H&M posted its first rise in quarterly profits for more than two years as that strategy bore fruit.
Pre-tax profit jumped 25% to SEK5bn (£413m) in the three months to August 31, as the level of stock it sold on promotion declined two percentage points – the fourth successive quarter that the metric had fallen.
H&M is due to publish full-year results on January 30.
In the 12 months to November 30, 2018, H&M suffered a 21% drop in pre-tax profit to SEK12.6bn (£1bn), in what boss Karl-Johan Persson described as a “challenging year” for the group.
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