H&M planning more international expansion

H&M is planning an aggressive expansion move with its plan to open approximately 400 new stores during this year into regions such as Taiwan, South Africa, Peru and India

The
group opened 379 outlets during last year, which amounts to more than
one store per day.

The
majority of its new stores are planned to open within the US and
China, but will also take place in Germany and Poland.

The
clothing group is based in Sweden and holds the position of
second-largest global fashion retailer, right behind Inditex, the
Spanish owner of Zara.

H&M
opened online stores within China, Spain, Italy and France and
intends following up with openings in nine other countries during
this year, most of which will be in eastern Europe, but including
Portugal, Switzerland and Belgium.

The
group posted pretax profits of 7.8bn Swedish kronor for the quarter
ended November. This was an increase from its figure of SEK7.26bn
for the previous year, but it fell below the forecast of SEK7.96bn.
Sales increased by 14% to SEK176.6bn, with sales for December and
January showing an increase of 15% and 14% respectively.

H&M
intends offering a broader range of products, with its launch of H&M
Sport one year ago and its expanded shoe range during the autumn. It
launched its first wedding dress during last march and there is talk
of a beauty range to be launched during autumn.

The
latest designer to the fold is Alexander Wang, following in the
footsteps of Donatella Versace, Stella McCartney and Karl Lagerfeld,
in the creation of a high street collection for the group. It proved
popular as shoppers commenced queuing from the night before the sale
commenced in the London store.

H&M
employs in excess of 132000 people at its 3511 stores across 55
countries. The group stated that 2015 started well, but issued
warnings about the expensive US dollar which will affect their
sourcing costs.