Fashion retailer Hennes and Mauritz has reported a 12% increase in net income during the fourth quarter of 2014, up from £443m during the same period in 2013.
Growth is imminent for the high street chain, with the H&M group planning to open 400 new H&M stores mostly in the U.S. and China but also in new markets including India, South Africa, Peru, Taiwan and Macau. Minimalist style enthusiasts will also welcome additional & Other Stories and COS stores, opening in 2015 at a rate faster than that of 2014.
This autumn, H&M will also launch a new concept, offering a broad range of make-up, body care and hair care products, to be stocked in 900 H&M stores and online.
“2014 has been a very good year for H&M,” says Karl-Johan Persson, CEO at H&M. “Well-received collections for all our brands and continued strong expansion both in stores and online have helped increase our market share and have further strengthened our position in the market” he added.
H&M created 16,000 new jobs within the H&M group in 2014 and now employees over 132,000 members of staff, which Persson cites, along with H&M‘s shared values, as the key to the Stockholm based retailer‘s success.
“We have another exciting year ahead of us, with new opportunities and challenges. 2015 has got off to a good start, with strong sales in both December and January. Although the increasingly expensive US dollar will affect our sourcing costs, we will make sure that we always have the best customer offering in each individual market in terms of fashion, quality, price and sustainability, which form the basis of our business idea” Persson concludes.
The strong result for 2014 has led to SEK303m being allocated to the H&M Incentive Program (HIP) which is for all employees regardless of role, salary and whether they work part-time or full-time.
