The Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) company logo hangs at a store in London, U.K., on Wednesday, June 23, 2010.
Photo: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Imaxtree
In the financial year ending last November 30th, H&M’s profits were down by 15.3 percent — and that’s a loss of over $2.3 billion. The company’s CEO cited inflated purchasing costs, currency fluctuations, the wavering economic climate, and the actual climate as loss-related factors — last fall’s unusually warm weather dented H&M’s numbers because markdowns were necessary on colder weather clothing. A similar downturn is expected to affect the early months of the current financial year thanks to the warm winter season that’s followed.
