HM sales surge as Madonna collection launched

There have been some reports from the press – not many, to tell the truth – hinting that the M by Madonna collection did not match the Swedish retailer’s expectations and failed to sell well. Today we can finally have numbers speaking for themselves as Hennes & Mauritz pubished the group sales development for Mach, the month the collection designed by Madonna went on sale.

In the month of March 2007, sales in local currencies including VAT increased by
29% compared to March previous year.

Analysts had expected a warm and early spring, easy year-earlier comparisons and sales of clothes designed by Madonna to boost March figures! – Reuters comments.

“The H&M results easily topped the 20% rise expected on average by analysts and the 10% rise seen in sales for comparable stores. “Fantastic figures,” said one analyst. “They were above all expectations and will be a fillip for the stock market today.”

Another analyst said the figures could boost the sector. “It has been a good month, a little bit better than expected. I think there will be a positive reaction on the market, and also for the sector,” the analyst said.

The firm had 1,386 stores open at the end of March, up from 1,216 a year earlier.

From Hennes & Mauritz and Reuters.

Hennes & Mauritz AB, Europe’s second-largest clothes retailer, said sales in March rose at the fastest pace in at least 15 months, beating analysts’ estimates, as designs by Madonna lured shoppers in London and Berlin.

The stock rose to a record. Revenue from stores open at least a year gained 17 percent, the Stockholm-based company said today in a statement. The median estimate of 16 analysts polled by SME Direkt was for growth of 9.5 percent. Total sales surged 29 percent in the month.

”It’s the stock in the industry to own, and celebrity collections by the likes of Madonna are generating lots of buzz for the company,” said Simon Blecher, a fund manager who manages the equivalent of $590 million at HQ Fonder AB in Stockholm, including H&M stock. ”There’s enormous momentum in the shares.”

The shares rose as much as 13.5 kronor, or 3.1 percent, to 443.5 kronor and traded at 438 kronor as of 12:58 p.m. in Stockholm. The stock is up 56 percent in a year, while shares of larger rival Inditex SA are up 51 percent in the period.

”The Madonna collection was clearly significant,” said Henrik Schultz, an analyst at Danske Equities in Copenhagen, who advises shareholders buy the retailer’s shares.

From Bloomberg.

A
one-off clothing range launched by Madonna ensured fashion chain H&M posted bumper monthly sales figures today

Sweden’s Hennes & Mauritz said like-for-like sales soared by 17% during March, while new stores added to the firm’s overall performance with total sales up by 29%.

The clothing range by Madonna, which was released on March 22, helped contribute to the rise, while the warmer weather also brought forward sales of the firm’s spring and summer collections.

Analysts at Citigroup said the like-for-like rise was ahead of estimates of around 9%, helped by a wider inclusion of the pop superstar’s M collection, which included a cropped black leather jacket at £99.99 and white shirts at £14.99.

H&M said: “The M by Madonna collection was present in all 1,300 stores and drove impressive revenue growth in the first 10 days after the launch. Notably the previous designer collections were typically only in 250 stores.”

From This is Money.