Racism scandalĪs if the company's earnings weren't problematic enough, H&M last week found itself in the middle of a social media storm, accused of racism. Some observers have questioned whether he'll soon be shown the door, though his father Stefan Persson, the chairman of the board, has ruled out such a move.

E-commerce, for all our brands, is definitely a part of the company that is going very well and is profitable,' insists Persson, heir to the company founded by his grandfather Erling.Īt 42, he has headed the group for eight years. 'That, combined with worse sales figures than expected, has affected investors' faith in the company.'Ĭhief executive Karl-Johan Persson rejects that analysis. 'They have failed in describing their vision for the e-commerce business and how they plan to compete with truly digital companies,' Bornold said. The company will publish its full-year earnings report on January 31. H&M, which also owns the brands COS, Monki, Weekday, Cheap Monday, Arket and H&M Home, said in December it would be closing stores, but didn't specify how many or where.

Not only have H&M sales almost never declined, but the drop was bigger than analysts had expected. In December, the group announced a four percent drop in fourth quarter sales from the previous year, to €5.0 billion ($6.22 billion). 'It's (been) one of the toughest years for H&M,' Joakim Bornold, an economist at the investment bank Nordnet told AFP, noting that the company's stock price has fallen by 35% since January 2017. H&M is one of the most well-known brands in the world, with global brand consultancy Interbrand ranking it the 23rd best known company worldwide in 2017 - ahead of Ikea and fashion luxury goods manufacturer Hermes.īut lately, H&M has struggled to lure shoppers into its 4 553 stores around the world, and has been slow to develop its online offering.

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