Hennes & Mauritz shares jumped on Thursday as the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer eked out a surprise profit and cut excess stock to the lowest level in years.
H&M, which has struggled for years with weak profitability, high inventory levels and unflattering comparisons to Zara owner Inditex, said it was making progress on its cost-cutting programme and expected increases in raw material prices to ease towards the end of the year.
Operating profit at the Swedish group in the three months to the end of February rose to SKr725mn from SKr425mn a year earlier. While this included a SKr1bn gain from revaluing its stake in second-hand chain Sellpy, the results were well ahead of analyst expectations of a loss of SKr1.2bn.