H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB Six-Month Report

THE FIRST HALF-YEAR

• The H&M Group’s sales including VAT increased by 12 percent in local currencies in the first six months of the financial year. Sales in comparable units increased by 3 percent. Converted into SEK, sales excluding VAT amounted to SEK 59,491 m (52,135), an increase of 14 percent.
•  Profit after financial items increased by 16 percent and amounted to SEK 10,754 m (9,290). Group profit after tax was SEK 7,958 m (6,875), corresponding to SEK 4.81 (4.15) per share.

THE SECOND QUARTER

• The H&M Group’s sales including VAT increased by 12 percent in local currencies in the second quarter. Sales in comparable units increased by 2 percent. Converted into SEK, sales excluding VAT amounted to SEK 31,658 m (27,632), an increase of 15 percent.
• Gross profit amounted to SEK 19,546 m (17,057), corresponding to a gross margin of
  61.7 percent (61.7).
• Profit after financial items increased by 23 percent and amounted to SEK 7,053 m (5,752). Group profit after tax was SEK 5,219 m (4,257), corresponding to SEK 3.15 (2.57) per share.

———————————————————-

• In addition to the five new markets that H&M will open in 2012, H&M plans to open stores in several new markets in 2013. The markets where store contracts for 2013 have so far been signed are Estonia and Indonesia.
   
  

 
Comments by Karl-Johan Persson, CEO

“The year started well and the positive trend continued in the second quarter. In the second quarter we saw strong sales and profitability development, with a profit increase of 23 percent. The spring collections have been well received by our customers as shown by our increased market share in a fashion retail market that continues to be challenging. H&M’s attractive customer offering is appreciated by customers in all our 44 markets, in big cities as well as small cities – and in both countries with strong economic growth and countries with a tough macroeconomic climate.

Our expansion plan remains intact. We plan to open around 275 new stores net during the full-year. We continue to open new stores in all current markets and we will add five new markets during the year: Bulgaria, Mexico, Latvia, Malaysia and Thailand. In addition, online sales will be launched in the autumn in the US, the world’s largest online market.”

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 20 June 2012.

CONTACT PERSONS
Nils Vinge, IR                          +46-8-796 52 50
Jyrki Tervonen, CFO                 +46-8-796 52 77
Karl-Johan Persson, CEO         +46-8-796 52 33
Switchboard                             +46-8-796 55 00

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 as well as H&M Home. The H&M Group has more than 2,500 stores in 44 markets including franchise markets. In 2011, sales including VAT were SEK 128,810 million and the number of employees was more than 94,000. For further information, visit www.hm.com.