admin H&M Group announced its chairman Stefan Persson is to step down after more than 20 years at the company.
At the annual general meeting which will be on 7 May 2020, Persson has decided not to stand for re-election. He will be succeeded by H&M Group CEO Karl-Johan Persson.
Helena Helmersson, H&M chief operating officer has become CEO of the H&M Group.
In 1997, Helena joined H&M’s buying department and held various roles within buying and production thereafter. She has been COO since a year with responsibility for expansion, logistics, production, IT, advanced analytics and AI.
Between 1 December 2018 and 30 November 2019 with a gross margin of 52.6%, the group reported a year-on-year increase in gross profit to SEK122.5bn (£9.7bn). Net sales increased by 11% to reach SEK232.8bn (£18.57bn) in the same period. This was attributed to more full-price sales, lower markdowns and increased market share.
The company said this year’s increase in profit means that SEK86m (£6.9m) has been allocated to the H&M Incentive Program (HIP), a fund set up for all employees.
In the fourth quarter ended 30 November, H&M group’s sales including VAT increased 9% to SEK61.7bn (£4.9bn) – a 5% rise in local currencies.
Profit after financial items increased by 24% to SEK5.4bn (£430m) during the quarter. Before the allocation to HIP, profit during the period increased by 26%.
In 2020 H&M Group plans to open around 200 new stores, and close around 175. Most of the store openings will be in South America, Russia, Eastern Europe and Asia (excluding China), while the closures will take place mainly in Europe, the US and China.
The group recently entered into an agreement with a new franchise partner in central America, where the first H&M store is expected to open in Panama at the end of 2020. It also plans to launch an H&M website in Australia, and introduce H&M to South Korean ecommerce platform SSG.com.
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